Another Time in Another Place
by Lovin Suliet
Summary: James and Juliet fic set in the alt. Circumstances bring James and Juliet to the same place. When each of them need someone the most will they find each other?
1. Not fit to be a father

Another Time in Another Place

**Knock knock**

At the sound of the knock at the door, James sets the book he was reading down on the table next to him. He sets his glasses on top of the book and gets up off the couch. "Who the hell is that?" he wonders, as far as he knew no one was aware he was home from Sydney.

"What do you want?" he says rather harshly as he pulls open the door.

On the other side of the door were two grim looking officers flashing their badges at him.

"You James Ford?" one of them asks.

"Depends who wants to know"

"You know a Cassidy Phillips", the other one asks, not breaking the serious look on his face.

James rolls his eyes, what the hell had Cassidy gone and done now.

"No", he replies, stepping back from the door and going to close it, not in the mood for anything Cassidy may have done now.

"Mr. Ford", the officer says putting his hand onto the door in order to stop him from shutting it. "You are sure you don't know Cassidy Phillips" he continues, while his partner flashes Cassidy's picture in front of him.

"Whatever she said I've done, I ain't seen her in over a year"

The officer glares at James, "Cassidy Phillips died in a car accident a few hours ago. You are listed as the father of one Clementine Phillips"

James feels his knees weaken and he grips the door, and doesn't hear the next words the officer says.

"Mr. Ford?" the officer repeats, "You are the father of Clementine Phillips?"

"Umm, yeah, it's a possibility" he can't believe he is having this conversation. "The kid?" he asks. "Is she?"

It takes a moment for the officer to understand what he was asking, and shakes his head, "Oh no, she's in a hospital in Miami, only sustained minor injuries from what we were told"

The officer hands James a piece of paper with the address of the hospital in Miami where Clementine was. "From what we have been able to find, you are the child's only living relative"

James shakes his head, "This is some kind of joke right? Cassidy would never have listed me as the kid's guardian; I've never even laid eyes on the kid. I'm not fit to be a father"

The officer gives him a displeased look, "Fit or not Mr. Ford, you are the only person in the world that that little girl has right now. We'd suggest you get on a plane and get to Miami"

James stares down at the piece of paper in his hand. "Is this really happening?" he thinks to himself.

When he looks back up the two officers were tipping their hats at him, and he hears one of them mumble something about sorry for your loss, as they retreated to their vehicle.

He stands in the doorway for quite some time, staring at the little white piece of paper in his hand, Cassidy dead, the little girl he'd never met laying in a hospital bed in Miami, alone.

"Dammit Cassidy" he says aloud as he shuts the front door. "What have you gone and done, I ain't fit to be a damn father"

He hears the officer's words in his head, "Fit or not Mr. Ford, you are all the only person in the world that little girl has right now"

He wrestles with the fact that even though he was the only one the kid had, she was likely still better off without him. "Son of a bitch" he says as he finds himself standing beside the phone. He picks it up and dials, "I need to book a flight on your next plane to Miami" he growls at the travel agent.

*****

Shall I continue?


	2. Ladies First

** Ladies First**

– **Juliet -**

"Wait for Auntie Juliet sweetheart", Juliet calls out to the chubby blond haired toddler she was chasing down the hallway of the hospital. She grasps his little hand and the toddler breaks out into a giggle. "You think you are so funny don't you", she says, unable to hide her own smile as she pulls him up into her arms as he lets forth a squeal of displeasure at being picked up.

"Shh", she says putting a finger to her lips, "We don't want to wake mommy up if she's sleeping"

The little boy looks at her inquisitively at the mention of his mother. "Ma ma?" he asks.

She nods, "Yes sweetheart, we are going to see your mom"

They arrive outside Rachael's room and Juliet glances through the window. She can see Rachael's sleeping form in the bed.

"Hmm", she says to the little boy. "Mommy's sleeping I don't think we should bother her"

As they were about to turn away Juliet notices Rachael shifting in the bed, "looks like she's not sleeping after all"

Juliet pushes over the door, and Julian squeals with delight, "Ma Ma", he attempts to wiggle from Juliet's arms.

"Hope you are up for some company", Juliet says setting the little boy down on the floor and giggles as she scrambles towards the bed, and his awaiting mother.

"Always ready for you two", Rachael reaches for her bedside table and grabs her scarf, tying it onto her balding head. Seeing her struggling, Juliet reaches forward, helping her to tie it.

Six months earlier Rachael's cancer had relapsed and life as they'd known it had changed dramatically. Her chemotherapy treatments had caused the last of her hair to fall out over the past couple days and Juliet knew she was afraid to let Julian see her like that.

Rachael had been in the hospital for the past six weeks for treatment and Juliet had rearranged her life in order to help her sister and care for Julian.

She'd be lying if she didn't admit that instant motherhood had been a struggle. Trying to keep a two and a half year old happy, her sister looked after and a busy obstetrics practice running was wearing her thin. But seeing Rachael with Julian like this kept her going.

They'd known years ago when Juliet had helped Rachael to get pregnant that there were no guarantees that Rachael's cancer would stay in remission. When they reached one year, and then two and then three they'd thought they were in the clear. It was only a week after that, that Rachael had started complaining of back pain. The rest had been a blur.

Juliet watches as Julian used the side rail to climb up onto the bed. He was now enclosed in his mother's arms.

"How did he do at daycare today?" Rachael asks Juliet.

"The teacher said he was getting along with everyone, he's had no problem integrating into the hospital's daycare program" After that first week of trying to get to Julian's regular daycare in time to pick him up before it closed, Juliet realized she had to come up with a plan B. The hospital offered a flexible daycare where she could drop him off with very little notice. It seemed like the perfect solution to that little problem.

Rachael leaned down and kissed the top of her son's head. "That's good" she says relieved. It helped her to know that Julian was being well cared for while she was not able to look after him. She thanked God daily that Juliet was there to help her.

"And how about you?" Juliet asks. "How are you feeling today?" She had spoken with Rachael's oncologist a few hours earlier and knew that despite the aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments the latest scans and test results were not encouraging. She could tell by the look on Rachael's face that she too had been given the news.

Rachael avoids Juliet's look and helps Julian fiddle with the book in his lap. "I'm okay"

"Rach", Juliet says seriously to her sister, "We are gonna beat this. I have colleagues all over the US looking for someone who can help us"

Rachael turns and looks at her sister, tears blurring her eyes. "Jules, you know as well as I do we might not beat it this time"

"Don't say that honey. You beat it once, you'll beat it again"

"I'm tired Jules"

"Hey", Juliet says in response to her sister's defeated tone, "Don't talk like that, okay. I need to know that you are going to keep fighting this. If you can't fight for me, fight for Julian. He needs you"

Rachael avoids Juliet's eyes and fiddles with her son's hair, she didn't want to have this conversation.

The silence is interrupted by the sound of Juliet's pager. She glances at it and sees it is a 911 page from the delivery room. She sighs, "Damn, I have to take this Rachael", she really didn't want to leave, but had no choice. On the other hand, at least in the delivery room, she could help someone. "Do you want me to leave Julian, or take him back to the daycare?"

"Leave him I'll get the nurse to take him back if I get too tired"

Juliet nods, "Have fun, I'll be back as soon as I can." She gets up and leaves the room. After shutting the door she turns back and glances at her sister and nephew cuddled together on the bed and tears start to form in her own eyes. What was she going to do if she lost Rachael? She couldn't even contemplate that possibility.

Her pager goes off a second time, which pulls her back to reality. Seeing that the number was the same as previous she runs to the stairs and heads up one floor to the delivery rooms. A nurse meets her at the desk, "Room 1 Dr. Burke, the 28 year old you saw a few hours ago, baby is in distress and moms' already being prepped for a crash section"

"Thanks", she mumbles to the nurse as she rushes off towards Room 1. Juliet pushes the thoughts of Rachael from her mind. She needed to concentrate on the task at hand. She scrubs her hands and preps herself for the OR. "Okay everyone", she says walking into the operating room. She flashes a confident smile at the scared looking new mom to be, "let's deliver this baby"

**- James -**

James hated to fly. He hated flying more when the destination held only uncertainty. In comparison to the flight home from Sydney a few days ago Miami was just a short hike. But what awaited him there was a mountain.

The entire drive to the airport he wrested with conflicting feelings. Him, James "Sawyer" Ford, a father, it was almost laughable, wait, not almost, it was laughable. What the hell was he thinking, he was a con man. The kid was nothing but the product of a con. Maybe it wasn't even his kid. The picture that Cassidy had laid on the table in front of him that day in the prison flashed before his eyes. When those blue eyes had glared back at him, he'd known the truth, the kid was his.

"Dammit Cassidy" he curses aloud. "What have you done?"

When his flight had been called he almost didn't get on the plane. But he did get on the plane and he couldn't explain why. Maybe it was because the kid was essentially an orphan now, just like he'd been when his parents had died. Had it not been for his uncle taking him in, he'd have ended up in foster care. Maybe the kid would be better off in foster care, it would certainly be a step up from having him as a father.

Throughout the first half of the flight he stared out the window at the clouds, second guessing his decision to fly to Miami. The second half of the flight he wondered about the little girl that awaited him in Miami. He'd only ever seen that one picture of her. He'd secured the money for her future, had it put in a bank in Albuquerque and never looked back. That was fourteen months ago. He counts back to when he was last with Cassidy, the kid would almost two. He knew nothing about kids, and less about babies. He runs his hands through his hair and leans his head against the window of the plane.

"We are making our final descent into Miami", he finally hears the pilot saying.

Three hours later he's standing outside the hospital's main entrance. "Here goes nothin'", he thinks to himself as he pushes open the door and enters the hospital.

He hated hospitals almost as much as he hated flying, but he perseveres ahead. He walks to the information desk.

"Can I help you sir?" the elderly woman asks as he approaches the desk.

He nods, "I'm looking for a patient" he says rather gruffly, and then softens his tone a bit when he sees the woman step back from the table. "Sorry" he mumbles. "I'm looking for Clementine Phillips"

He watches as the woman punches the letters of Clementine's name into the computer. After reading something on the screen she looks up at him with a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry sir" she says. "But I'm unable to give you any information on that particular patient"

"What the hell do you mean?" he asks, unable to keep his tone in check. "I just traveled halfway around the country because I was told that she was here"

This time the woman ignores his tone. She picks up a piece of scrap paper and a pen and jots down a name and room number and then hands it to him. "You need to go see this person. Elevators are down the hall on the right" she says dismissing him.

He shakes his head, and picks up his bag and heads down the hall towards the elevator.

When the door opens he enters the elevator, he goes to hit the button for the seventh floor and sees that it is already lit up.

He notices a blond woman at the back of the elevator, dressed in scrubs and a lab coat. She seems engrossed in the chart she was looking at and doesn't even seem to notice that anyone has gotten onto the elevator with her. He walks to the back of the elevator to the opposite corner as the woman. He fidgets nervously as the elevator makes its way up to the seventh floor.

Distracted by the fidgeting man next to her, Juliet looks up from her chart "You okay?" she asks him.

"Just peachy" he replies sarcastically.

She shakes her head and goes back to reading her chart. When the doors finally open they step forward at the same moment and their shoulders collide.

"You know" he says in a sarcastic southern drawl, "if you didn't have your head buried in that chart Sweetheart, you could see where you were walkin"

She looks up at him again, whoever this man was she didn't have any fight left in her today. "You're probably right", she takes a step back and motions for the door. "After you" she gestures.

He notices the look on her face, and was suddenly sorry he'd snapped at her. "Nope, ladies first" he says holding out his hand so that she could exit the elevator.

She walks by him and exits the elevator. Without looking back she throws him a quick "Thanks" and heads off down the hall in the opposite direction as him.

"Your welcome" he replies under his breath as he watches her walk away. When she disappears from his view, he glances down at the paper in his hand and looks up at the sign on the wall. He figures out where he's suppose to go and heads down the hall to find someone who could give him any information on Clementine.


	3. Paying Off Old Debts

**Paying Off Old Debts**

– **Juliet -**

Juliet glances down at her watch as she walks onto the paediatric wing. "Damn", she thinks to herself. She needed to get a move on there were still had a ton of things to do before picking up Julian.

"Hey Dr. Burke", she's interrupted from her thoughts by one of the nurses.

"Hi", she smiles back. "I'm just here to check on a baby I delivered a few hours ago"

The nurse nods, "He's doing great. If his glucose levels stay stable he should be able to go to his mom's room in a few hours"

Juliet smiles, "Thanks, that's the answer I was hoping for"

Down the hall she hears a piercing scream coming from one of the rooms. "Oops, sounds like someone's not happy"

The nurse nods, "Sweet little thing, nineteen months old, the mom was killed in a car accident, apparently no other family. She's been crying like that on and off since she came in yesterday"

"That's tragic", Juliet says, glancing towards the door where the crying was coming from. "She's okay though?" she asks. "The little girl?"

The nurse nods, "Yeah, minor bumps and bruises. Amazing though, from what we've heard the mom was killed on impact. The car was demolished. EMS and the police said it's a miracle the kid made it out alive, let alone with only a few bumps and bruises"

Juliet can't help but think about Julian. As sick as Rachael was, she was still here and god forbid Rachael did lose her battle, Julian would have her. He'd never be alone.

"What's going to happen to her?"

"Dunno", the nurse shrugs her shoulders. "The Department of Children and Family Services is involved, if they can't track down any family, guess she'll go into foster care"

They are interrupted as the screaming gets closer to them. "Jane it's your turn", the other nurse says, carrying a struggling, screaming, red faced, curly haired child out of the room. "I can't get her to settle down"

Juliet's heart breaks at the sight of the distraught baby. "Here, I'll try" she says finding herself holding out her arms to take the child.

The nurse carrying the child looks to her colleague. "Sure whatever" she willingly hands the child off to Juliet.

"Hey there little one", Juliet says soothingly, brushing the curls from the little girls eyes. "You are having a rough time of it aren't you", she continues in a calm voice. The crying starts to subside. "That's a good girl", she rubs her hand over the little girls back. It takes a few minutes but the child starts to relax in her arms.

She walks up and down the hallway with the baby, talking to her soothingly and the child finally lays her head on Juliet's shoulder. The screams fade to sobs and finally she is quiet. She glances at the nurses who both look towards her mouthing 'thank-you'. A short while later she feels the even breathing of the little girl and is assured she is asleep. She carries her back to her room and gently lays her in the crib. She quietly sneaks from the room and closes the door behind her.

"We owe you one Dr. Burke", the nurses both tell her when she gets back to the nursing station.

"Oh no problem", she replies. She has a billion things to do today and probably shouldn't have spent the time she did on the paediatric wing, but her heart broke for that child. She couldn't explain why she was drawn to the child. It had to be the similarities to Julian. "Page me if you need help when she wakes up" she finds herself saying. "I'd hate to have her so upset like that again"

"We will", they reply in unison. "Thanks again" they call after her as she leaves the unit.

Her pager goes off as she reaches the elevator. "Damn, it's turning into one of those kind of days", she leaves the elevator and turns towards the stairs running down them towards the delivery room.

**-James-**

James glances at the number on the wall beside the door, #742. Inside the room he sees a young brunette woman behind a desk. Here goes nothin', he thinks to himself and knocks on the door.

"'Scuse me, you Melanie Johnson?"

The woman looks up at him, "That I am. And you would be?"

He takes a deep breath and steps into the room, "Names' S.., err James Ford. My, umm, Clementine Phillips...." he finally blurts out, "I'm here to see her and I was sent here to you"

"Ahh", the woman stands and moves around the desk and extends her hand to James, "I'm Melanie Johnson, the social worker for paediatrics. You are Clementine's father?" she guesses. She was surprised by the man's appearance in her doorway, the last report she had gotten from the police was that they weren't sure that the father would come.

"So I've been told." All of the doubts he had at the airport and on the plane come flooding back to him, why in hell was he even here. "I ain't ever met her, only ever seen a picture. Her mom and I" he sighs, "there's history. Or was history", he takes a moment to register that Cassidy was really gone. "It was over before the kid was born"

"What are your intentions for Clementine now?"

"Look lady" he says seeing her disapproving glance. "Yesterday life was cruising along just fine, two officers showed up on my doorstep and told me that my ex was dead and my kid was lying in a hospital bed here, alone. I don't know what my intentions are. I'll tell you what I told them, I ain't fit to be anybody's father"

"Then why are you here Mr. Ford?" she challenges him.

He feels like punching the wall but keeps his temper in check. He didn't know why he was here. This was crazy, or was it? He looks away from the woman for a moment and takes a deep breath. Finally he turns and faces her, looking at her eye to eye. "I wrestled with this all the way from L.A., best I could come up with is that it's time to take responsibility for something I should have taken responsibility for a long time ago."

"Alright then", the woman says when she finally speaks. "Now we are getting somewhere"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Cassidy?" he asks. "Where is she? If no one has come forth for Clementine 'cept me, what happens to Cassidy?"

The woman walks back around her desk and opens up a chart. "Looks like her body is still here. Nothing has been done with it yet"

"Any idea what she was doing in Miami?" he asks. "Last I heard they were still living in Albuquerque"

The woman shakes her head. "No idea. Last known address is in Albuquerque"

Dammit Cassidy, what were you even doing here? "I'll make arrangements for her to go home", he finds himself saying.

"That's very kind of you"

"Don't go thankin' me" he scowls, "I guess you could say I owe her one". There is silence between them for another few moments... "The kid", he finally says. "Err, I mean Clementine", he chastises himself he needed to stop calling her the kid, if they were really gonna take him seriously. "Is she really okay?"

The social worker smiles, "Yes, amazingly enough she really is okay". She recounts the details she knew about the accident and the miracle that it really was that Clementine hadn't seriously been injured. "She's been quite upset though. The nurses have had problems with comforting her"

"Makes sense" he throws in, "She did just lose her mom". He thinks back to what he remembers after his own parents died. Clementine was quite a bit younger but he can imagine her fear of finding herself alone. He couldn't drag this out any longer, "Can I see her?"

"Follow me", she says leading him from her office. They walk back past the elevator and onto the paediatric wing.

She leaves him at the desk and wanders off to find a nurse. He looks around the paediatric wing, suddenly doubting himself again about being here. Get a grip man, he tells himself. You ain't rushing out the door with the kid you are just here to make sure she's taken care of.

"Alright", Melanie says returning to him. "Apparently they just got her to sleep and don't want us to wake her, but we can peek in at her".

She leads him down the hall. "She's in here". Very quietly she opens the door.

He gazes in the room. The crib is located on the far wall and from his vantage point he can only see a small bundle of blankets with a mass of curls sticking out the top. He didn't need to see all of her he knew deep down that bundle of blankets and mess of curls was his child. Since yesterday when those officers had walked back down his front walkway he'd been feeling things he didn't think he was capable of feeling. Sonofabitch. He steps back from the door, leans against the wall and runs his fingers through his hair. This was really happening.

"What happens now?" he asks without looking up at the social worker.

"I need to speak with her case worker. The Department of Children and Family Services was given temporary guardianship after the accident when we weren't sure whether Clementine had any family"

Great the DCFS is involved already. "That is going to complicate things, isn't it?"

She nods, "A little bit. But frankly Mr. Ford, you don't seem all that certain that you are prepared to look after that little girl in there"

He can't help but let out a sarcastic laugh, "Pardon me if I don't seem prepared. I've had less than twenty four hours to adjust to this"

"Look Mr. Ford, I need to make some phone calls to Clementine's case manager. Why don't you go get yourself a coffee and something to eat? The nurses are hoping she'll sleep for a few hours."

As much as he wanted to argue with the woman, it really wasn't going to help the situation. Hell he wasn't even sure what he wanted at this moment. He concedes, "Fine. Guess I could use a coffee."

"Good" she replies, satisfied he wasn't going to argue with her. "Meet me back at my office in a few hours"

James steps away from the wall and looks back through the window in the door at his daughter. He had arrangements to make for Cassidy. "Alright, I'll see you in a few hours" he says walking away from the woman and back towards the elevator.

************

**Thanks to everyone who has been reading so far (and for those who have reviewed!) I have to admit, I sorta started this story on a whim, with no real plan. I've written the next couple chapters and it is sort of starting to come together. Hope you are enjoying. There is more James and Juliet scenes in the coming chapters :)...**


	4. Just another one of those days

**Just another one of those days~**

– **Juliet - **

Juliet had been right about her day going to hell. She'd delivered eight babies so far today and it was only 2 pm. She had another 4 hours in her shift and a whole waiting room of patients in her fertility clinic. Despite her best efforts she hadn't made it back to the daycare to have lunch with Julian and at this rate she wasn't going to make it to see Rachael till the end the of her shift, which by that time would be almost Julian's bedtime and he would be ready to go home.

She arrives back at her office, shuts the door behind her and leans against it. She soaks in the silence. She was tired. Julian had been up four times during the night. Finally she'd given in and just brought him to bed with her. At least that way she'd gotten a few solid hours of sleep. It was moments like this that she felt like she was ready to throw in the towel and give up. She pushes her hands through her hair trying to fend off a headache. Maybe she should just give up and take a few weeks off.

"You alright Dr. Burke?" her nurse Laura asks when she pops her head into the office to let her know her first patient was ready for her.

Juliet snaps herself out of her moment of self pity. "Yeah, just have a lot on my mind" That was an understatement and a half.

"I just wanted to let you know your first clinic patient is in exam 2" Laura turns to leave and then remembers her other message, turning back to face Juliet, "oh and you had a phone call earlier." Laura walks over and hands Juliet a slip of paper. "Some spinal surgeon out of L.A., he wants you to call him back"

Juliet's interest is piqued, "About my sister?" she asks.

The nurse nods, "Said he heard about Rachael from one of his colleagues. He's interested in looking at her case. Thinks he might be able to help"

Juliet looks down at the piece of paper in her hand, "Dr. Jack Shephard, hmm, never heard of him but if he's willing to look at Rachael's file, I'm willing to call him back. Thanks Laura".

Juliet tucks the paper into her pocket. It would have to wait until after her clinic appointments. 'Maybe this day is going to turn around after all', she thinks to herself.

Two hours later Juliet finds herself back in her office, she pulls the piece of paper with the phone number from her pocket. She glances at the clock, it was just after four, so still early enough in L.A. She picks up the phone and dials.

"Dr. Jack Shephard's office" she hears a woman's voice on the other end.

"Hi, my name is Dr. Juliet Burke. Dr. Shephard called and left me a message earlier today. I'm just getting around to returning it"

"Dr. Burke, he mentioned you might be calling. He's just with a patient I'll put you on hold for a moment." She hears a click and then music. Within a minute she hears a man's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Dr. Burke, I'm glad you got back to me, my name's Dr. Jack Shephard. Dr. Jenny Lawrence mentioned she was a friend of yours and told me about your sister. She thinks that I might be able to help out"

Juliet could feel tears burning her eyes. In six months they'd only been met with rejection on discussing Rachael's case with any other spinal surgeons and here was one that seemed to pop out of nowhere that was willing to help. She takes a second to compose herself before speaking.

She spends the next several minutes explaining her sister's case. When she's finished she prepares herself for another rejection. She knew deep down that the likelihood that Rachael would get a cure were slim.

"Well I'll be honest with you Dr. Burke"

"Please, it's Juliet"

"Juliet, it sounds like it might be difficult but not impossible. Do you think that you can send me Rachael's latest scans and test results?"

"Absolutely, thank you Dr. Shephard"

"It's Jack, please"

"I don't know how I can ever thank you Jack. You are the first one to even consider doing something to help Rachael."

"I can't make you any promises Juliet"

"I know Jack, but you are willing to take a look. Right now that's the only hope I've got to go on. I'll send out the records as soon as I can"

"And I'll call you back when I get a chance to look at them"

Juliet gives Jack her pager number and thanks him again for calling her. After hanging up the phone she heads off to tell Rachael the news.

She leaves her office in a rush not paying attention to where she's going and runs smack dab into...

**- James - **

He spent the new few hours sitting outside the hospital on his cell phone attempting to make arrangements for Cassidy. A considerably difficult task since he didn't know what the hell the woman would want. It had been over two years since they were last together. He thinks about the little girl seven floors above him and how dramatically life could change in a mere 36 hours.

He glances at his watch surely the kid would be awake by now, not that he was entirely sure what he was going to do with her if she was awake.

When he is just about to the elevator he collides with someone, or rather, someone collides with him.

"Well if it ain't Dr. Blondie again" he says stepping back looking at the same blond doctor he'd ridden in the elevator with hours earlier. "You trying to drum up business by taking people out" he jokes with her.

She steps back and looks up at him flustered. "Well you don't exactly fit my usual patient population", regaining her composure she raises an eyebrow and smiles at him. "But for what it's worth I really am sorry" she says apologizing. "I'm just having one of those days"

"I can relate." He can't seem to take his eyes off the woman. There was something so familiar about her, yet at the same time he couldn't figure out where he'd ever have met her before. She wasn't exactly his type.

"Have we met before?" they both blurt out at the same time, and then both laugh.

"I mean before the elevator this morning?" Juliet clarifies.

He shakes his head, "Don't think so, unless you've been hanging out in L.A. This is the first time in years that I've been to Miami"

"Ah, guess you just look like someone I know", she replies. She was still bothered by the fact that there was something so familiar about this man.

They are interrupted by the sound of Juliet's pager. Juliet looks down at the pager and shakes her head. "Guess it's going to continue to be that kind of day"

"Look", she says looking up at him. "Sorry for running in to you again. Guess I should start paying better attention. I've got to go answer this"

He nods, and she turns to walk away. Something makes him call out to her. "Later Dr. Blondie"

She turns, "Its Juliet" she throws back at him, unsure why she blurted out her first name instead of Dr. Burke, and turns to continue on to answer her pager.

He watches as she disappears down the hall and shakes his head. No way would he ever have a chance with a woman like that. But there was something he couldn't put his finger on. She was so familiar.

He takes the elevator back up to the seventh floor and walks back to Melanie Johnson's office. She was on the phone but waves to him to acknowledge she knew he was there. Hanging out in the hallway he can hear screaming coming from down the paediatric wing. He remembers what Melanie had said about Clementine being so upset and follows the cries down the hall.

When he enters the unit he notices the young nurse sitting at the desk with the screaming little girl in her lap. The nurse notices him, and recognizes him from his earlier visit with Melanie. She gets up and carries the little girl over to him, "you're her dad right?" she asks.

He nods, and before he can say anything the young nurse places the screaming bundle in his arms. "Maybe you can calm her down", she says and scurries away.

Clementine takes one look at the stranger who was holding her and screams louder, if that was really possible. He awkwardly wraps his arms tighter around her and stood in the hallway unsure what to do with the kid.

He hears a familiar voice behind him, "Little miss Clementine, I heard you were awake and creating a disturbance again"

James turns and finds himself face to face with Juliet again. "You?" she says surprised to see him holding the child.

"Umm, yeah" he says struggling to keep hold of the child.

Juliet holds out her arms and takes Clementine from him. The little girl lays her head on Juliet's shoulder and starts to calm.

"How'd you do that?" he asks surprised at the instant quiet of the child.

"Ah, we bonded earlier. I saved her from the mean nurses", she jokes light heartedly, flashing him a smile. "You know this little girl?" she asks surprised. "I was told that she had no family"

"Hmm, well", he says. "I wouldn't go right to knowing her, but as far as family goes, I'm her father"

Juliet gives him a questioning look.

"Her mom and I broke up before she was born. I'd never met her until five minutes ago. And now, suddenly it's instant fatherhood and it looks like I'm not so good at it"

Juliet gives him a sympathetic look, "I've been trying out instant motherhood lately, turns out I'm not so good at that either," she has no clue what possessed her to blurt that out to the strange man in front of her.

He nods, "looks like we got something in common"

"You want to try again?" Juliet asks, motioning to Clementine.

He holds up his hands, "I don't want to upset her she looks pretty comfortable with you"

"You'll be fine", she says confidently "just show now fear. They pick up on that easily", she teases.

He takes a deep breath and holds out his arms. Juliet hands him the calmed baby. He holds her facing him, in a similar position to how Juliet had just been holding her. For a moment she looks at him like she's about to scream again, but then surprisingly she relaxes and puts her head onto his shoulder. He puts his hand on Clementine's back, and gives Juliet a fully dimpled grin.

"See", she grins back at him. "You're a natural"

He laughs, "Yeah well, we'll see about that. The name's James by the way. Since I know your name Dr. Blondie, only seems right that you know mine"

She laughs, "Nice to meet you James." They are interrupted once again by Juliet's pager. She was ready to throw it out the window today.

"You ever get sick of that thing?" he asks, watching her look at the number.

"Only every day" she says shaking her head. "I've got to answer this I'll be back when I can"

He gives her a fearful look, as if to say you aren't going to leave me alone with this kid.

"You'll be fine", Juliet says, seeming sensing his panic. "As I said, just show her no fear. The nurses will help you out if you need it, you just have to ask. They know how to page me if you run into trouble"

He takes a deep breath. "You promise you'll come back?"

"I promise." She knows she shouldn't be making promises she might not be able to keep, especially today. "I'll see you in awhile James. Good luck"

With that she was gone, and James was again alone with his daughter.

He carries the little girl back to her room and settles them into the rocking chair. "What are we going to do now Clementine?" he asks the little girl quietly, to which she responds by snuggling into him tighter.

Its twenty minute's later that the social worker finds them in this exact position. When James doesn't notice her in the doorway she doesn't have the heart to interrupt. She quietly backs out of the room leaving him to bond with his daughter.


	5. Father Knows Best

**Chapter 5 - Father Knows Best**

– **Juliet – **

The last page Juliet received was from the physician covering the next shift. She gratefully hands over and signs out for the day. It's after 5 when she arrives at the daycare to pick up Julian. She had yet to make it to see Rachael and she wasn't sure she was going to make it back to the paediatric wing to check on James and Clementine. If she didn't make it back up she would call in later to make sure things were going alright.

Julian squeals with excitement when he notices Juliet in the doorway of the daycare and rushes over to her waiting arms. "Hey honey", she says hugging him. "Were you a good boy today?"

He nods excitedly and waves to the teacher. Juliet thanks her for once again keeping him longer than they'd anticipated and they head off to see Rachael.

Julian had another rough night of being up multiple times and again ended up in bed with Juliet. The next morning he seems to have come down with a cold and she decides to take the day off.

Except for missing out on seeing Rachael, she wasn't too upset to have a day at home.

**-James - **

James spent the next days at Clementine's bedside not necessarily because he'd felt that he could do anything for her but more because he couldn't seem to leave her alone. He found he was slowly learning about his daughter, and despite his rough around the edges exterior the little girl was winning over his heart.

When he'd finally spoken with the social worker the previous day she didn't have much new information for him but was continuing to work on the case. He was listed on Clementine's birth certificate as her father, but Cassidy hadn't legally assigned any guardian for her.

He had been disappointed that Juliet hadn't made it back to see them but the nurses had mentioned that she'd phoned in to check on them and that she had to be unexpectedly away from the hospital for a few days. It had been two days since he'd last seen her.

Clementine had been restless during this past night and this morning she was downright cranky. Anytime James or one of the nurses offered her a bottle or food she refused it. The nurses kept assuring James that she was fine, she was just missing her mom but he wasn't so sure. He didn't want to argue with the nurses because he was the first to admit that he knew nothing about kids and they'd spent longer with his daughter than he had. But, he had spent the last couple of days with her and when it came right down to it he couldn't shake off his bad feeling.

By noon he was getting agitated. Clementine had cried on and off for the entire morning, she hadn't eaten anything and she'd been sick to her stomach before finally crying herself to sleep in his arms. He'd asked the nurses more than once to look at her and they'd continued to assure him she was fine. According to them she would have been discharged from the hospital if it hadn't been for issues surrounding her legal guardian.

When she was finally settled in the crib he'd gone out to the desk and asked to speak to Clementine's doctor, to which he was met with 'they are busy Mr. Ford, they'll get here when they can'.

Trying to keep his temper in check he'd stepped off the unit to go out and get some fresh air. On his way back inside he'd stopped at the social worker's office, only to find that she too was unavailable.

As he neared the paediatric wing he could hear Clementine's wails and curses himself for having stepped out for a few minutes. When he gets to her room he notices that she'd been sick again and the nurse was cleaning her up. He isn't able to hold his temper in check again.

"What's goin' on?" he asks the nurse.

"She woke up crying again, made herself sick" the nurse says, somewhat defensive.

"Is the doctor coming yet?" he asks.

"They said before that they would get here when they could. Mr. Ford, Clementine has been under a lot of stress she just lost her mother. It's just going to take time"

"Listen", he says raising his voice and when Clementine looks at him frightened he lowers it.

"Listen", he says again, "I may know very little about kids, and less about my daughter but something ain't right. I know that she just lost her mother, but I have spent the last couple of days with her, she hasn't been like this. She was in that same accident that killed her mother, what if something ain't right with her?"

"Mr. Ford", she starts again and he holds up his hand.

He walks over to the crib and picks up a crying Clementine, rubs her back and takes a deep breath.

"Can you page Juliet, err, Dr. Burke" he was thankful he'd found out her last name from one of the nurses, "she said she left her pager and would help me out if I wasn't able to calm Clementine down. She told me that we could call her at any time"

"She's not Clementine's doctor"

"I don't care if she's Clementine's doctor. Please, page her" he says with increased insistence in his voice, "Or I will"

"Alright", the nurse says reaching the doorway. "I'll page Dr. Burke for you, there is a note on Clementine's chart that says that if Clementine was upset she'd come if she was able"

James holds tongue in cheek, the child was more than upset and he'd find someone to listen to him. "Shh, Baby Girl" he whispers in Clementine's ear when they were alone. "Juliet will help us"

**-Juliet - **

Juliet had spent two days at home with Julian who'd come down with a cold. It had been difficult not to be able to visit with Rachael but Rachael was so susceptible to any kind of infection right now they just couldn't see her. On the upside she'd been able to catch up on some much needed rest.

She had called in on both of her days off to check on Clementine and James. She couldn't explain her connection to this strange man and his child, but she also couldn't stop thinking about them. It made her happy to know that he'd barely left the hospital since that first meeting with his daughter.

This particular day had been going better. She was not on call and the pager was much quieter. She was anxious to speak with Dr. Shephard again and find out if he'd had an opportunity to go over Rachael's records.

When she'd told Rachel about the phone call from the doctor in L.A. Rachael had seemed somewhat ambivalent. Juliet knew that at this point Rachael was afraid to hope that someone might be able to help her as every previous consult had just left her disappointed.

She was in her office catching up on some of charts when her pager went off. She's surprised to see the number was the paediatric wing.

"This is Dr. Burke", she says when the nurse picks up the phone, "you paged"

"We did", the nurse responds, "we are sorry to bother you but you mentioned that we could page you if we had problems with Clementine Phillips"

Juliet had meant to get up there but hadn't made it that far yet this morning. "Is she okay?"

"Well, we think so. She's been her usual unhappy self, but her father is insistent that we page you"

Her interest is piqued, "how come?" she asks.

"He's worried that she won't stop crying, like he expects that suddenly he shows up and the baby will automatically know him"

Juliet doesn't miss the harsh undertones in the nurse's voice. "Has he been a problem?"

"Oh no", she responds quickly. "He's just getting a little agitated today, that's all"

Juliet looks at the mountain of charts on her desk they'd waited for days, what was one more. "I'm on my way up"

She hangs up the phone and heads out of her office.

When she arrives on the paediatric wing she can hear Clementine's cries from the doors. There was something different about the cry from the other day. When she arrives at the door to the child's room she's alarmed by what she finds. The little girl was on James knee and he was struggling to help her as she was sick to her stomach.

"Hey", she says entering the room and approaching them.

He looks up at her, his eyes pleading for help. Juliet takes the baby and carries her over to the crib. "What's going on?" she asks.

"She's been like this all morning", he explains. "This is the third time she's thrown up and she ain't eaten a thing all day. I can't get her to stop crying."

Juliet can hear the stress in his voice. No he didn't know the child but he hadn't left the hospital since he'd gotten here and he was trying.

"Has anyone been up to look at her?" she asks.

"I've asked them a bunch of times but they keep tellin' me she's fine. That she's stressed about losing Cassidy. I get that, but something ain't right"

Juliet nods her head, something wasn't right. She helps to clean the baby up, watching her as she did. "Hey there honey", she says to Clementine trying to sooth her, "Juliet just wants to check something out okay"

James curses under his breath, beating himself up inside that if something was wrong he hadn't been more insistent that they call someone earlier. "What do you think is wrong with her?" he asks, watching Juliet shine a light in his daughter's eyes and do a few other things with her.

Juliet quickly examines the little girl and then picks up the chart. She's annoyed with what she finds. "I'll be right back James. Stay here with Clementine"

Juliet leaves the room and has words with the nurse caring for Clementine and then other words for the doctor who was caring for her. She makes a few other phone calls and then comes back into the room.

"James, we are taking her down for a CT scan of her head"

"Juliet?" it comes out a little harsher than it should have, but his stress was coming out as anger. "What the hell is wrong with my kid?" he growls.

She puts her hand on his arm, "James", her voice is calm, "I just pulled up her scans on the computer from when she was admitted and they showed that she had a small bleed in her brain which likely occurred as a result of the accident"

He steps away from her, "They told me she was fine, that it was just bumps and bruises. No one said nothin' about bleeding in her head"

She nods her head, "she was fine. It was very small, only the radiologist picked it up when he went over the scan. On first glance you'd never see it, and there was a minute risk that the bleed would increase. The intent was to scan her again before discharge to make sure it was gone."

"But?" he sinks into the rocking chair, wondering if this was really happening.

"The way Clementine is acting makes me concerned that she has increased ICP"

"What does that mean? Don't speak doctor to me Juliet" he asks, unable to take his eyes off the little girl that three days ago he'd never seen before and had no intention of being involved in her life but now had been envisioning a future with.

"Increased ICP means that she had pressure building up in her head. We won't know exactly until we see the pictures"

"Son of a bitch" he curses, running his hands through his hair. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep his temper in check.

"I'm not a neurosurgeon James. I don't even work in paediatrics. My back ground is obstetrics and fertility. The best paediatric neurosurgeon in the hospital is going to meet us downstairs he'll be able to explain this better"

A different nurse from the one who'd been caring for Clementine earlier pokes her head into the room. "They are ready for her downstairs Dr. Burke"

"Let's go", she says putting up the crib rails and pushing the crib towards the door. "The sooner we get the pictures the sooner we know what is going on inside this pretty little girl's head"


	6. Just something about you

**Chapter 6 - Just something about you**

** - James – **

James paced back and forth across the waiting room in the CT suite, he'd wanted to go in but Juliet assured him that she would stay with Clementine. It seemed like forever before Juliet emerged from behind the double doors. He's unable to read the look on her face.

"What is it?" he asks, stopping to face her.

"Come, sit" she says extending her hand towards his arm to lead him to the chairs.

"I don't want to sit Juliet. Please, just tell me what is wrong with my kid" He wishes that he could pick up any vibe off her, read anything off her face but it seemed she'd perfected the art of hiding what she was feeling.

"The neurosurgeon will be out in a minute, I think it is best that we wait for him"

"Juliet" he says frustrated, "Please, I'd rather it come from you" he wonders what it is about this woman, he'd known her for a total of three days but he felt like it had been much longer than that. He was never one that trusted easily, but for some reason he trusted her to be honest with him.

She gives in, not able to keep it from him. "The scans showed that the bleed did in fact get a bit bigger and Clementine now has swelling in her brain. The swelling was causing the symptoms you were seeing, the increased irritability, the vomiting", she trails off. "Right now the important thing is to get the swelling down. They have started medications that will help to do that. It is also very important to keep her as quiet as possible, so they are giving her medication to make her sleep." James sinks down in the chair, and Juliet sits in the chair next to him. "Because of the medications that they give her to make her sleep, they also have to put a tube down her throat to help her breath. From here they are taking her to the paediatric critical care unit"

For probably the 100th time in the past 3 days he wonders whether this is all one big nightmare. He was going to wake up in L.A. and Clementine is going to be safe, at home with Cassidy. "Is she gonna be alight?" he asks, staring at the floor.

Juliet reaches and puts her hand over his, squeezing it gently, "I don't know James" she says quietly. "If the medications don't work they'll have to take her to the operating room"

"This is my fault" he's been beating himself up all day. "I don't know why I'm even here. I've said from the beginning that I'm not fit to be that little girl's father" his eyes move from the floor to Juliet's hand.

"It's not your fault" she quickly assures him. "There was nothing you could have done to have prevented this. There was nothing anyone could have done to prevent this James."

"But I didn't push them hard enough. I knew first thing this morning that something wasn't right with her."

"And if you hadn't been there? Look at what you've learned about her in three days James. If you hadn't been with her, if you hadn't been insistent that something was wrong..." she trails off.

"You were the one that actually got them to do something"

"No", she says seriously, "I just listened to you"

Again he has no idea why he was confiding in this woman, but he can't seem to stop himself. "I never wanted kids. When Cassidy first came to me and told me about the baby, first showed me Clementine's picture I didn't want to believe that she was mine. I never intended to have anything to do with her. The way I've lived my life, I'm not a good person" he finally looks at Juliet.

She can see the all of his mixed feelings on his face, "But when it came right down to it and you found out that Clementine needed you, you came."

"And there is not a damn thing I can do to help her" he gets up and walks across the waiting room.

Juliet gets up and walks over to James, she's about to speak when the door to the CT suite opens again. They both turn to see the neurosurgeon.

He extends his hand to James, introduces himself and then reiterates what Juliet had just explained to him about Clementine. When he's finished he tells them he's going to accompany Clementine up to the critical care unit to see that she gets settled.

"I'll bring James up", Juliet tells the surgeon. He nods and leaves.

When they are alone, he looks to Juliet. "You don't have to do that", he says. "I'm sure I can find my way up there. You probably have patients that are waiting for you"

She shakes her head. "When I was back there with Clementine I called and got someone to cover the delivery room for me. I don't have any clinic patients today, so I'm free"

"Why are you doing this?" he asks. "Why are you helping me? You don't know me"

She had been wondering this herself, and had no explanation. "Honestly", she says. "I just feel like it's something I need to do. I can't explain it, but from the first moment that I saw Clementine and then you", she shrugs her shoulders, "there is something so familiar about you"

His eyes meet hers, "I feel the same way."

** - Juliet – **

Neither able to explain their familiarity with one another, they'd left it at that. Juliet accompanied him to the paediatric critical care unit. When the nurses had Clementine settled they were brought to her bedside.

"Sonofabitch" she heard James mumble under his breath when they entered Clementine's room. It was one things to see the little girl as she'd been a few hours earlier, it was quite another to see her as she was now, with tubes attached to her and monitors beeping all around her.

"She's not in any pain", Juliet says stepping up behind James and putting a hand on his shoulder. He reaches his hand up and places it over Juliet's. "This is all to help her" she explains.

"I can't do this" he whispers, pulling away from Juliet and turning away from Clementine.

"Yes you can James. All you need to do right now, is be here for her"

The moment is broken by the sound of Juliet's pager. She silently curses the timing of it. She glances down at the number and sees that it is long distance. She'd been waiting for Jack to page her about whether or not he thought he could help Rachael.

"You should go answer that"

She didn't want to leave him, but she didn't want to miss Jack. "It's alright, it can wait"

"Juliet", he says looking her in the eye. "You've been with me all day, I've taken you away from you job. I can't thank you enough for helping Clementine today, but I can't keep you from your job any longer"

"You're sure that you'll be okay?" she finds herself asking.

He nods.

"Okay then", she says. "I'm going to run back to my office and answer this." She reaches into her lab coat pocket and pulls out her card. "I'll be back, but if you need anything, page me."

He accepts the card and she watches as he tucks it into his pocket. With a last glance at Clementine she heads out of the room towards her office.

She closes her office door and sits down at her desk. "What is it with you James Ford?" she wonders aloud. "Why am I so connected to you?" She tries to shake off the feelings. She picks up the phone and dials the number which she'd been paged too.

"Dr. Jack Shepard", she hears the male voice on the other end of the phone.

"Jack, it's Juliet"

"Juliet, thanks for calling me back. I had a chance to go over Rachael's chart. I think that I might be able to help"

She'd been afraid to get her hopes up, as they'd been met with nothing but rejection up until now.

"Are you serious?" she asks

"I won't lie to you Juliet. It won't be easy, and it isn't likely that I'll be able to get all of Rachael's tumour, but I think that I can get the majority of it and from there with the rest of her radiation and chemo treatments I think there's reason to hope"

"Up till now we've been afraid to hope"

"I've arranged it with your hospital and I've made time to come to Miami in the next ten days", he says. "I realize that it wouldn't be in Rachael's best interest to fly to L.A."

"I don't know how I can ever thank you Jack"

"There's no need for thanks Juliet"

"I look forward to meeting you Jack" They say their goodbye's and Juliet hangs up the phone.

She puts her head and her hands, her emotions take over and tears spill from her eyes.

************

**Okay, so sorry for the second heavy chapter in a row. The next chapter is 'lighter' I promise. A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love reading them!**


	7. Past, Present and Future?

**Chapter 7 - ****Past, Present and Future?**

**-Juliet- **

The next ten days passed rather uneventfully. Despite her busy schedule Juliet had made it to see Clementine every day and spend time with James. Jack was due to arrive in the next twenty four hours and barring any complications Rachael's surgery was planned for the following day.

On this particular morning, Juliet knew that James would already be pacing Clementine's room. The child was having another CT scan and hopefully if everything looked good her medication was going to be decreased and they were hoping they could get her breathing tube out.

After finishing up her morning rounds she pops down by the unit and pokes her head into Clementine's room. Just as she figured he was pacing around the room, she offers him a smile. "You want to go for coffee?" she asks, like they haven't been having coffee every morning for the past nine days.

He smiles at Juliet his eyes lighting up at her presence, then looks over at Clementine. Juliet chimes back in before he has a chance to speak.

"Her scan isn't till 11:30, there's time"

"Yeah, I guess I could use a coffee" like he was going to refuse.

"Has Melanie been by this morning?" she asks as they walk to the coffee shop.

He shakes his head, "Nope, she didn't expect to hear back from the judge till later this afternoon. I heard from the police officer investigating Cassidy's accident though. Seems Cassidy and Clem were in the process of moving to Miami, that's why they were here"

"Really?" Juliet asks surprised. "That's why it was so hard to track down her address?"

He nods, "They had just gotten the keys to their new house. The officers were there yesterday, the boxes hadn't been unpacked yet"

"Any idea why she'd up and move across the country?" she asks.

He shrugs his shoulders, "I've given up tryin' to figure Cassidy out. I think I'll still go ahead with the funeral plans in Albuquerque once Clem's better. Cassidy's parents are buried there, seems only right she's with 'em"

They get their coffees and sit down at 'their' table. Getting coffee had become part of their daily routine. That first morning when she'd asked him to coffee he'd given her a look and she'd quickly joked about 'going dutch'. A week later it didn't matter who paid, as long as they had this time together. As for conversation nothing seemed off limit as a topic and there were rarely any uncomfortable silences.

"I decided that I'm going to start looking for a place here" he surprises her with this morning.

"You aren't going back to L.A.?"

He shakes his head, "I was between jobs and the way I figure it there is nothin' really there for me anymore. If the judge doesn't give me custody of Clementine, I want to be here in Miami to continue to fight for her"

She smiles and gives the conservative response, "Sounds like a well thought out plan" she says, even though inside she was thrilled to hear he was planning to stay in Miami.

"Once I know Clementine's on the mend I'm going to need to find a job. As it stands right now the judge will probably laugh at my custody request"

"You're too hard on yourself. I think you've made your commitment to Clementine pretty clear."

"I think you're biased Blondie. I've told you about my past".

When he calls her Blondie she blushes, and picks up her coffee and takes a sip to hide it. "Nah", she smiles. "I've seen you with her, no matter what anyone says she belongs with you. Besides, your past is your past. From the moment that you heard that Cassidy died and Clementine was alone you start charting a new future for yourself."

"The doc from L.A. should be in today right?" he asks, changing the topic. He didn't want to get his hopes up that the judge was going to sign the paperwork.

She eyes him suspiciously; he had a habit of easily changing the subject when he wanted too. "I'm waiting on the final confirmation of his flight time. Once we know the time, Rachael's surgery will be scheduled"

He eyes her nervously wringing her fingers around her coffee cup. He'd seen her do it numerous times over the past week, usually when they talked about Rachael. He reaches out and puts his hand over hers, "I know that the thought of Rachael's surgery scares the heck out of you Blondie but this is what you've been waiting for right?"

There was that Blondie again. She sets her coffee down and intertwines her fingers with his, "Doesn't take the fear away though"

"Nope" he agrees, "but for what it's worth you won't be alone while she's in there. Think it's time I repaid some favours"

She smiles, "thanks James"

"You've had my back for almost two weeks now. Figure it's high time I had yours"

**-James- **

"You ready?" she asks, moving over next to him.

He shrugs his shoulders not sure if he was really ready, "It's been a long ten days, but are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

She slides her hand into his and gives it a squeeze, "her scan today looked so much better, the swelling in that pretty little head is gone. They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think it was safe for her"

The doctors had been decreasing the little girl's sedation since the scan was finished and she had started waking up. Once the doctors were finished with the little girl they left her bedside leaving James and Juliet alone. Juliet leads James to the little girl and they each take a place on either side of her crib. Juliet runs her fingers through the little girl's curly hair. "It's going to take her awhile to clear all the sedation from her system" Juliet warns.

He nod's, she'd warned him this morning that Clementine might not be herself for awhile yet. Not that he'd had a real comparison as she hadn't been herself since he'd met her.

There is a knock on the door and they both turn to see the social worker.

James looks at her nervously, "You have any news?"

"Yes and no", she says stepping further in the room. "The judge didn't outright say no to your request for custody"

"But he didn't say yes either did he?" James asks.

She shakes her head. "No, he didn't. With the complications that Clementine had he wants to wait until she's almost ready for discharge before he makes a decision."

"That's crazy", Juliet steps forward. "James has been with her since the accident. He was in no way responsible for the complications, more to the case had he not been here it likely wouldn't have been picked up so soon and the outcome could have been significantly worse"

Melanie nods her head, "The judge was impressed with what James did that day. It definitely worked in his defence. But..."

"My past" James shakes his head. "I can't change what happened"

"No but you can show you are making changes for the future. You have no job James, how do you expect to provide for Clementine"

"Haven't exactly had a chance to start looking for a job" he glances over at Clementine. "I'm plannin' to stay in Miami" he says. "Once I know Clementine is gettin' better I'll start looking for a house and work on the job"

"Sounds like a good plan. It might not hurt to get yourself a lawyer", Melanie suggests. "If the judge does continue to drag his feet on your custody request then a lawyer might help"

"Already working on that"

"Sounds good", Melanie says. "I should get going, I have a mountain of paper work in my office" she turns and leaves them alone.

"Don't we all", Juliet mocks the woman after she leaves the room.

He turns and gives Juliet a look and chuckes, "What was that all about?"

She shakes her head, "She walks in here all get a job, get a lawyer. You haven't left the hospital in almost two weeks other than to plan a funeral for your ex, a woman you haven't seen in over a year"

"She's right though Jules. I don't have a job, I live on the other side of the country and I do have a criminal record. Not your idea guardian for a baby girl"

"Yeah but you are her father and the only one that has stepped up to take custody of her."

"It's alright Blondie" he can't help but chuckle at the thought of her trying to plead his case, "she's just trying to make me realize this might not be easy."

"Yeah well, she could also work a little harder to support you"

He takes a step closer to her so they are almost touching he keeps his voice low "why do you support me Juliet?"

They are looking eye to eye "Because you are not a bad person, I don't understand why I know it, but I.." she trails off.

"Juliet?" his voice is still low.

"I've known you not even two weeks James and it feels like I've known you for years. I've told you things that I've never told anyone. I've never done anything like this before"

"I don't understand it anymore than you do Juliet. It freaked me out that first morning we went for coffee and I knew that you drank it black. I sort of figured that one was a lucky guess, you are a doctor after all, but there have been other things..." he doesn't elaborate.

She could feel his warm breath on her face, could almost feel his lips on hers, his arms around her. In the back of her head she's thinking 'getting a grip woman, you've know this man for less than two weeks' the rest of her didn't care at this particular second. The moment is broken by the beep of her pager. She doesn't take her eyes off him nor does he takes his off hers.

"Ummm, you're beeping there Blondie", he finally says snapping out of the moment, and taking a step back from her.

She silently curses the pager as she glances down at the number. "Delivery room", she says when she looks back up at him.

"You better go" he says glancing over at Clementine and then back at her. "You don't want that baby making its grand entrance before you get there"

She smiles, "I'll see you in awhile" she says as she's leaving the room.

When they are alone he walks over to Clementine's bedside, he takes the little girls hand. "What am I doing with her Clementine" he says to the little girl. "God, I wish I understood all of this, first you then her. Things like this don't happen to guys like me, do they?"

**********

**Again, thanks for everyone who has taken the time to review I really do appreciate each of them. As I mentioned before I started this story without much of a vision of where I was headed with it but I do have some sense of where it's going now. Hope you continue to enjoy it.**


	8. Mystery Man

**Chapter 8 Mystery Man**

**Juliet - **

After finishing up in the delivery room Juliet heads to check in on Rachael. "Hey sis", she says flopping herself into the chair beside Rachael's bed.

"You okay?" Rachael asks. "You look tired"

"Well", she says raising her eyebrows, "Now that you mention it, your son doesn't like to sleep at night."

"Sorry", Rachael says with a shrug, "I'm afraid he always ends up in my bed"

"Yeah", Juliet laughs, "I'm figuring that out. It's okay though, we're managing"

"I heard from the nurse that surgery is booked for 11am tomorrow"

Juliet nods her head. "Dr. Shephard gets in at 5, he wanted some time tonight to familiarize himself with the OR staff, meet you and go over your newest scans"

Rachael avoids eye contact with Juliet, staring at the wall straight ahead of her. "If something happens, you'll look after Julian won't you?"

"Hey", Juliet says moving over beside her sister, sitting on the edge of the bed and turning her cheek so they are eye to eye. "You are going to be fine. This surgery is what we have been praying for. You are going to get better and be able to look after Julian yourself"

"Please Juliet", she says as her eyes mist over with tears. "I just need to know that he is going to be looked after"

Juliet wraps her arms around Rachael and hugs her tightly, "He'll always be looked after Rachael. You don't have to worry about that" she assures her.

"I'm afraid Jules" Rachael admits. "The first time I went through this I wasn't afraid of dying, but now....."

Juliet pulls away from her slightly and fights to keep her own tears at bay. She wipes the tears from Rachael's eyes. She was petrified of Rachael's upcoming surgery and the thought of losing her but she couldn't let Rachael know it, she needed to keep her feeling positive. "It's going to be okay Rach, you have to believe that"

There is a moment of silence between them and Rachael finally breaks it and changes the subject "So, tell me, how is that mystery man and his baby. Is she better?" Juliet had mentioned James and Clementine to her and Rachael hadn't missed how Juliet's face lit up when she spoke of them.

"She is getting better", Juliet says. "Her breathing tube came up a few hours ago and things are finally looking up"

"And her daddy?" Rachael asks. "Do I get to meet this mystery man?"

"Rachael", Juliet laughs in an attempt to cover up her true feelings, "I've been helping him with his daughter, it's not like we are dating"

Now it was Rachael's turn to laugh, "Ok Jules, whatever you say honey"

"What do you mean?" she blushes.

"Jules, I've never seen you so excited about a man. Not even when you were first dating Edmund"

Juliet shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah, well, we both know how well that ended"

"Jules, I want you to be happy. If this James guy is going to give that to you I say go for it"

"God Rach, there is just something about him that I can't explain. There's a connection there that I've never felt before. It's like I know things about him that I shouldn't know. For heaven's sake I met him less than two weeks ago. He's not exactly my type"

"And what is your type Jules? You've tried the 'research, business type' man, and that didn't go so hot", Rachael replies honestly. "Honestly, what have you got to lose Jules?"

She nods subtly, "I love you Rach, you know that right?" she wraps her arms around her sister again.

"I know sis", Rachael hugs her back and then pulls away from her. "You should go check on mystery guy." She gives Juliet smile. "You've spent enough time here"

Juliet laughs, "Listen to you Miss Matchmaker. Alright, alright, I'll go! But mostly because I have a mountain of work to do before I'm off for a few days. I'll be back later with Julian", she promises.

"See you later sis!"

She leaves Rachael's room and stops down by the unit to check on Clementine, or so she tells herself. She finds Clementine asleep in her crib and no James. "Where's her dad?" she asks the nurse sitting at the little girls bedside.

"Hi Dr. Burke, he had to go out for a bit", she replies. "Told me to let you know that he would be back in a few hours"

"Ah", she wonders where he'd gone. She walks over to the crib and peeks in at Clementine, happy she looked peaceful. She glances at the monitors and is satisfied with the numbers.

"How's she been?" she asks the nurse.

"She's good, a little irritable when she's awake but it's nothing we didn't expect after all the meds she's been on"

Juliet nods in agreement, "I warned her dad that might be the case"

"Yeah, he's cool with it. For someone that hasn't been with her for her little life, he handles her pretty well"

"Good to hear", Juliet says with a smile. "You aren't planning to send her upstairs anytime soon are you?" she asks.

The nurse shakes her head. "Not for a few days anyways, the docs want to keep a close eye on her down here. After what happened they are all in agreement that it's best to keep her here"

"Great", she says happily, "I'm happy that they decided that." Her pager goes off, and she hits the button to shut it off. "Guess that's my queue that I need to get back to work. Let her dad know I was here and I'll be back later"

**James – **

James had spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon with Clementine. The little girl was irritable, but nothing like she'd been the day she'd gotten sick. When he'd finally settled her to sleep, he'd taken the nurse up on her offer to watch her so he could go out for a bit.

He'd spent the previous day making some phone calls to different lawyers and had a meeting with one today.

After meeting with the lawyer he'd felt a little more encouraged than he'd been yesterday after talking with Suzie Sunshine, the social worker. His second stop while he was out was to check out an apartment. One of the nurses had given him a lead on a family friendly building not far from the hospital.

Leaving the apartment building and climbing back into his rental car he almost had to laugh at himself. Two weeks ago he'd never have imagined that, one he'd be moving to Miami, two that he'd be signing a lease for a two bedroom apartment for him and his daughter and three that he'd ever have met someone like Juliet.

He arrives back at the hospital and makes his way back to Clementine. He finds her cuddled in her nurses' arms and the two are looking at a storybook.

He nurse looks up and smiles at him. "See Clem, I told you he was coming back"

He washes his hands and goes over to the pair. "She giving you trouble?" he asks.

"Nah", the nurses says. "She was just a bit upset when she woke up"

Clementine gives him a shy smile and holds out her arms to him. "Da da"

He breaks out into a fully dimpled grin, "Did she just say what I think she said?" he asks.

The nurse laughs and stands up handing the little girl over to him. "Yeah" she says, "I think she did"

He takes the baby and she puts her head onto his shoulder and he puts a hand to her back, still smiling he looks at the nurse. "I figured she just thought I was someone here lookin' after her. We had that few days before she got sick and these past ten days she's been asleep..." he trails off.

"Looks like you were wrong" the nurse laughs. "Kids can be pretty perceptive, she knows you've been here with her. Should have seen her looking around when she woke up from her nap." The nurse watches them a moment and then continues, "I'll leave you two alone, call if you need anything" the nurse says as she heads out of Clementine's room.

He settles into the rocking chair with her. "I got us a place to live today", he says telling her about the place he'd just rented. "I know that I haven't done right by you Baby Girl but I'm gonna change that. Your mom and I, we never would have worked out. She took good care of you though and if I can do half as well as she did we'll be okay"

"Momma?" Clementine asks, reaching up and touching his cheek. He notices tears in her eyes.

"I know that you miss her" he kisses the top of her head and continues to rock her quietly.

Juliet has been standing in the doorway, unbeknownst to James and Clementine. She feels guilty for listening to them, and is about to turn away when James notices her.

"Hey", he says.

"Hey back", she smiles and comes further into the room. "I wasn't going to disturb you guys, you looked pretty comfortable"

"You aren't disturbin' us Blondie. It's because of you that she's getting better"

"I hear that I missed a big moment in here"

He flashes a big smile, "she called me dad"

She smile, her blue eyes lit up. "Smart girl"

"And how are you?" he asks sensing something was off with her. "The doc should be landing any time right?"

"Five", she says nodding. "I wanted to pick him up but he said he'd get here on his own"

He picks up on the subtle tension in her voice. "Looks like this little lady is going to go back to sleep and if I'm right you are done your shift. You want to get out of here for a bit? I know that you have to pick up Julian, but I figure you could use a few minutes of Juliet time first"

She gives him a look.

He gets up and lays Clementine down in her crib. "Come on" he says giving her grin. "The fresh air will do you good"

"Wait" she laughs, "Who's the doctor here anyways?" she asks teasingly.

"Yeah yeah", he laughs. "But sometime even Doctor Blondie needs someone to look out for her"

"Alright" she finally gives in.

James pops his head out of the room and lets Clementine's nurse know that she was asleep and he was stepping out for a bit.

"Where are we going?" she finally asks when they were a few blocks from the hospital.

"No where in particular" he says. They had walked down toward the beach and he takes a seat on a nearby wooden bench and pats the spot next to him. "You just looked like you needed to get out for a little bit. We may not have known each other for very long Juliet, but I know that you are stressed"

It was all she needed, her eyes blur with tears. "I'm sorry" her voice cracks.

He wraps an arm around her and pulls her closer to him. "You got nothin' to be sorry for. You've been going for days Juliet, looking after your sister, your nephew, me and Clem"

"She made me promise today that I'd look after Julian if she doesn't make it", she is just barely holding back her tears. "I can't even contemplate that being a possibility. How can she even think I wouldn't look after Julian" she says with a hint of anger in her voice and then there was just sadness, "how can she even think about dying on me?" she loses the battle with her tears. She's done this a lot lately but always in the solitude of her office or at night after she'd put Julian to bed. Never in front of anyone had she let her guard down like this.

When he finally feels her sobs ebb, he loosens his arms around her. "Feel better?" he asks softly.

She intertwines her fingers with his, and nods her head. She stares out at the water for a few more moments and then finally turns her head looking up at him. "This is real, isn't it?" she whispers.

He gazes into her blue eyes, wondering what it was about this woman. "It's real" he whispers back as he dips his head and places his lips softly over hers.

*******

**Again thanks for the reviews, sorry that I haven't responded individually to them but I really appreciate those who have taken the time to leave a note. I'm having a great time writing this story. Hopefully it's moving at an okay pace and doesn't seem too rushed (or too slow). . LOL for those waiting for Jack, he's coming in chapter 9. This chapter goes to KaydenceRei for always making me smile with her reviews (and you asked for the ending!)**


	9. Deja Vu

**Chapter 9 **

**Deja Vu**

He slides his hand behind her neck and into her long blonde hair, deepening their kiss. She responds by sliding her hand to the back of his head pullin him closer. There was no denying the connection between them. When the kiss ends, he slides his hand into hers and she moves closer to him laying her head against his shoulder. They sit like this for quite some time.

"It's getting late", she finally says. "Clem will be looking for you"

"You ready to go back?" he asks.

"Not really. But I guess we should. Thank you for doing this"

"I only brought you for a walk Blondie"

She smiles at him, "You did more than that James"

He smiles back at her, "It was my pleasure" he winks at her, "Can't wait to do it again!"

She laughs and shakes her head. Hand in hand they head back to the hospital.

Arriving back at the hospital they begrudgingly head off into their separate directions, James back to Clementine and Juliet off to see if Jack had arrived. She picks up Julian and they head to Rachael's room.

Julian rushes up onto the bed with his mother, and Juliet pulls up the chair next to the bed. "You look better", Rachael says noting Juliet's appearance.

Juliet can't help the blush in her cheeks, "Yeah, I'm good", she smiles.

Rachael gives her a look, "And?" she asks.

"And I'm good", Juliet laughs, not elaborating.

"Aw, come on Jules, I'm stuck in this room. I need a little excitement", she laughs. "That smile has to be because of Mystery Guy."

Juliet shrugs her shoulders. There is a knock at the door and they both turn their attention to the man who was entering the room.

"Rachael Carlson?" the man asks walking into the room.

"Yes", Rachael replies.

Juliet stands, "You must be Dr. Shephard", she says extending her hand. "I'm Dr. Juliet Burke, Rachael's sister"

"Juliet, please, its Jack" he replies with a smile, shaking her hand. "Nice to finally meet you"

He walks over and shakes Rachael's hand as well. He goes over Rachael's latest scans with them and maintains his optimism about the outcome of tomorrow's surgery. Juliet picks up on Rachael's increasing tension as Jack talks. He asks if either of them had questions and Rachael shakes her head. Juliet watches him with curiosity. For the second time in two weeks she was having a weird sense of deja vu that she couldn't explain.

"I'll see you both in the morning then", Jack says heading off on his way.

Juliet follows Jack out into the hall. "You are sure that this is the right thing to do?" she says when they are alone.

He nods, "I wouldn't put her through the surgery if I didn't feel it would be successful Juliet" he says confidently.

She glances back over her shoulder watching Rachael and Julian through the window in the door. "For our whole lives it's been Rachael and I against the world", she tells him. "The first time she went through this I always felt like she was going to beat it, that she was going to be okay." She is quiet for a moment and then continues "The past few months have been rough, I don't have that feeling anymore"

"I've gone through all Rachael's files from this time and from the last time. I truly believe that she can beat it this time too Juliet"

"I don't think I can ever thank you enough for coming, for trying to give us another chance."

"Don't even worry about it" he replies. "Get some sleep tonight, tomorrow's going to be a long day."

She nods, "I could say the same thing to you, good night Jack" she says leaving him to return to Rachael.

"So?" Rachael asks when Juliet comes back into the room.

Juliet sits on the edge of her sister's bed and takes her hand. "It's going to be alright Rachael, I truly believe that"

They are quiet for quite some time and Rachael finally smiles, "He's kinda cute" she says with a shrug. "If I have to let some strange doctor from L.A. hold my life in his hands, I think I'm good with it being him"

Juliet shakes her head and laughs, "Oh Rachael".

She stays at the hospital later than she normally would and Julian is pretty much asleep when they arrive home. She'd called James after settling Julian into bed, feeling like she needed to hear his voice and knew he could talk her down from her anxiety. They'd talked until after 11:30 when he'd finally told her she needed to get some sleep. At 2:30 she'd finally gotten frustrated from tossing and turning and had gotten up and gone to the couch. When it was time to head to the hospital she was ready to crawl back into bed. For the first time since Julian had been staying with her he'd slept through the night.

Instead of taking him to daycare, she's gotten a friend to look after Julian. She was unsure when Rachael's surgery would be completed and if god forbid anything went wrong she didn't want him at the hospital.

When she'd first arrived at the hospital she stopped in at her office. She'd booked the next few days off but wanted to ensure that all her patients were covered. Besides, focusing on her patients helped to her avoid what the day was going to bring.

She sits down at her desk and her thoughts go to the previous day. The moment she'd shared with James down at the beach brought a smile to her face. She'd opened herself up and shown him her vulnerability and he'd comforted her, something Edmund had never done during their entire marriage.

There is a knock on her door and she looks up to see James popping his head in.

"Hey", she smiles getting up from behind her desk.

He holds out a coffee, "Thought you could probably use this"

Her eyes light up, "you don't know how much I can use that"

He watches as she opens the coffee, takes a sip and sets it on her desk. "You never did sleep last night did you....." he says, more a statement than a question.

She shakes her head, feeling her eyes once again burning with tears which she tries to hold back.

He can see that she is fighting back tears and holds open his arms, "come here".

It was the only invitation she needed and she walks into his open arms. He wraps his arms around her and she rests her head against him, sliding her arms around him. "I wish I could take all of this pain away from you" he tells her.

"You are doing more than you know. . . . . I keep asking myself how when I needed someone the most you happened to come into my life. Thinks like this don't happen to me."

"Well Blondie, truth be told it was you who walked into my life, or if we want to get really technical, you walked right into me" He pulls back from her slightly and looks into her blue eyes and smiles, "and I couldn't be happier. I know it's only been two weeks but nothing like this has ever happened to me either." This was something unlike anything he'd ever done before. Every relationship he'd ever had was based on sex, money or both. Yet here he was, content to hold this woman in his arms wanting nothing more than to protect her from everything that she was afraid of.

He kisses her forehead, "you ready to go face the day?"

"Couldn't we just hide out in here all day?" she asks.

"Well" he shrugs, "I'd be okay with that, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you really want"

She shakes her head, "No, you're right. I need to get up to Rachael's room, they'll be calling her for surgery soon."

He glances down at his watch, "I have a meeting with the social worker and my lawyer in about twenty minutes. Once I'm sure Clem's settled I'll meet you in the OR waiting room"

"Clem needs you James"

"She'll be alright, she's got her favourite nurse today. They know that I will be in and out, but still in the hospital if she's gets upset" He doesn't miss that her eyes were filling with tears again and he pulls her back into his arms.

"You are going to get the wrong idea about me" she says, her voice shaky.

"Nah" he teases. "You have a pretty tough exterior, but you're really a softy"

His teasing brings a smile to her face. "I'm ready now" she says wiping her eyes.

He looks at her seriously, "You know where to find me if you need anything", his fingers rubbing her cheek, wiping away a stray tear.

She nods and they head out of her office towards the elevator. She heads up a floor and he heads down a floor.

**James**

James gets on the elevator, hits the button and walks to the back of the elevator. When the elevator begins to move he is hit with a piercing pain in his head and white lights flashing before his eyes. Within the white lights he sees a flash of Juliet, her head turned to the side with a smile on her face. As quickly as it started it was over. He puts his hand to his forehead and opens his eyes, seeing a woman standing beside him.

"Sir?" he becomes aware that her hand is on his arm. "Are you alright?" the woman asks him. He shakes his head wondering what had just happened. "Umm, yeah", he says to the woman, who was now looking at him with some concern on her face. "Are you sure?" she asks again. "You've been out of it for a few minutes"

He shakes his head, "a few minutes?" he asks confused, it had seemed like only seconds.

She nods, "The door to the elevator was open and you were standing here with your hand to your head."

"Just a headache" he says trying to shake off his confusion. "It's gone now", he says fully aware now that the pain, if it had really been pain was gone. "Umm, I need to go", he says to the woman. 'What the hell was that?' he silently wonders as he heads off the elevator. He felt like he needed to find Juliet but he couldn't miss the meeting with the social worker and his lawyer.

**Juliet**

She had left James and gone to see Rachael before she was taken off for her surgery. They had said their emotional goodbyes and Rachael had been taken into the operating room to be prepped. She was talking with Jack outside the operating room.

"I figure the surgery is going to take at least 10 hours", she hears Jack say.

"Juliet?" she can hear Jack's voice and feel his hand on her arm but is unable to respond. One hand goes to her head, the other to Jack's arm to keep her self upright as she's hit with a piercing pain in her head and white flashes before her eyes. In the flashing white lights she sees James dumping a canteen of water onto the ground. Just as suddenly as it started the flashes and the pain were gone.

When she becomes aware of her surroundings again she can feel Jack's arm around her and then she was being eased down into a chair.

"There you are", she hears Jack's voice, she is able to focus her eyes back on his face. "You alright?" he asks.

"I'm not sure" she says honestly, her hand moving back to her head which moments ago felt like it was going to explode.

She feels his fingers slide around her wrist. She knew her heart rate was elevated, at the moment her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. "Can you tell me what happened?" Jack asks.

She shakes her head, "Whatever it was it's gone now"

He eyes her suspiciously. "You were out of it for a few minutes Juliet"

"A few minutes?" she is now more confused, it had felt like only seconds.

He nods, "Yes a few minutes"

She shakes her head, "let's chalk it up to stress and lack of sleep" she says pulling herself together. "What were you saying before I made a complete fool of myself?" she gets up off the chair.

He continues to eye her suspiciously. He didn't know this woman despite the fact that he felt he did and decides to drop it for the time being. After all, she was under tremendous stress and that might explain what had just happened. "I was just saying the surgery would take about 10 hours, but I will keep you updated during it"

"Thanks" she says sincerely.

"We are ready for you Dr. Shephard", the nurse pops her head out the door.

"Alright" he says, "Here we go"

Juliet takes a deep breath, "Good luck" she says watching as he heads into the operating room. She leans against the wall and closes her eyes, "please God, let this work" she thinks to herself.


	10. Love You Forever

**Chapter 10**

**Love You Forever**

James was feeling encouraged after his meeting with the social worker and his lawyer. Yes he wasn't an ideal candidate for a parent, but he was Clementine's father and the judge was now leaning towards giving him custody. Granted the custody agreement meant he was still going to be under the scrutiny of Children's Aid, for awhile anyways. All he needed now to make it official was a job and a plan for caring for Clementine while he was at that job. Leaving the meeting he checks in on Clementine and finds her asleep. Finding her content, he heads off to check on his other favourite lady. He has to laugh at himself, two weeks ago when those officers knocked on his door he never could have dreamt how much his life would change in such a short period of time.

He finds Juliet sitting in the waiting room, flipping through a magazine. "Hey", he says sitting beside her. "Reading anything interesting there?"

"Hi", she smiles and sets the magazine aside. "Nothing, I think it's a leftover from the 1970's"

He laughs, "The 70's eh?" He slides his hand over hers and squeezes it, "You hangin' in there?"

She nods, and intertwines her fingers with his, "Yeah, but I'm driving myself crazy thinking about what is going on in there"

"That's understandable. Have you heard any news?"

"The nurse came out and said that things were going well so far"

"Well at least that's something"

She looks down at their hands and then shifts her body so she is facing him. "How'd your meeting go?"

He smiles, "Pretty good. If I can get myself a job before Clementine is released and come up with some meaningful plan to care for her, they are gonna let me keep her. Of course the Children's Aid people will be butting there heads in for awhile, but we'll handle it"

"I'll look into what's available here at the hospital", she says. "If we can find you a job here, Clem can get into the onsite daycare."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would", she finally breaks out into a full smile. "And as an added bonus we'd both then be working in the same building"

"That would be a added bonus" he agrees.

They both look up when they are approached by a nurse.

Juliet looks up at the woman anxiously, "How are things going?" she asks.

"Things are going as well as can be expected"

'As well as can be expected' Juliet thinks to herself, 'what the hell kind of answer is that?' "Umm, and what exactly does that mean?" she asks.

"Dr. Shephard has reached the tumour and he's starting to remove it. It's slow going"

James looks at the woman standing before him it was the same woman who'd been in the elevator with him a couple of hours ago. At the same moment she seems to recognize him, "You look better than you did earlier", she says to him. "Headache better?"

"Umm, yeah" he says not sure how else to respond. He notices the look Juliet was giving him.

"I'll be back when I can", the nurse says turning and heading back to the operating room.

Juliet turns to look at James, "What was that about?" she asks.

"Nothing" he says unsure how to explain the episode to Juliet.

"Didn't sound like nothing" she throws back at him.

"Something strange happened to me when I left you at the elevator"

"What kind of something strange James?"

"I got on the elevator, hit the button and then blanked out. I had the worst headache I've ever had but it only lasted a few seconds. There were these strange flashes of white light, and in the flashes I saw you", he shrugs his shoulders, "the flashes stopped, the pain went away and I was standing in the elevator looking like a fool with that woman asking me if I was alright"

"I know that it sounds totally crazy." He notices the colour drain from Juliet's face. "Jules?"

She shakes her head, "not so crazy"

"Why not?"

"Because the same thing happened to me after I left you this morning."

He looks at her surprised.

"I was talking with Jack about the surgery, blacked out, complete with headache, flashes of white light, and a vision of you. And then it was gone. I think I freaked Jack out a bit. Told him it was probably all the stress I was under, and to be honest I figured that's all it was"

"And now?"

"It makes absolutely no sense"

"Agreed! But what do ya think it means?"

"I have no idea", she replies honestly baffled by why they would each have such a similar experience at almost the exact same moment.

He shrugs his shoulders, "Guess we'll chalk it up to a weird coincidence, as long as it doesn't happen again I'd say we aren't losing our minds" he gives her a dimpled grin.

"I'm good with that" she smiles back, "Because I have to admit that during the past couple months there have been moments when I've questioned my sanity"

He laughs, thinking to himself that if she was questioning her sanity, there was no hope for him.

"So", he finally says. "We've been hanging out in this hospital for quite some time now and not that I haven't enjoyed it but I'm sure there is lots of Miami that is just waiting to be seen. Seein' as I'm planning on moving to this fine city, I think I need someone to show me all the hot spots"

"Why James Ford", she smiles, "is that your subtle way of asking me out?"

He laughs, "or not so subtle depending on how you look at it"

"I would love to show you the city James. Think you'll miss L.A.? Miami is pretty boring in comparison"

He flashes the dimples at her, "Hasn't been boring so far"

She blushes, she was a sucker for those dimples. He loves that it takes nothing for him to cause her to blush.

The next eight hours pass agonizingly slow for Juliet. James spends the hours back and forth between Clementine and Juliet. Each time he returned to the waiting room he'd find Juliet pacing back and forth. He'd found that while he was able to calm her down, each time he left and came back it was progressively more difficult to calm her down. It had been almost five hours since the last update had come from inside the OR, which only intensified her anxiety.

James had just returned to the waiting room when the nurse finally emerged from the OR with an update. He'd been unable to get her to stop pacing this time, and when he saw the nurse emerge from the room he'd moved over behind Juliet, placing a hand on her hip. He couldn't tell from the look on the woman's face whether the news was good or bad. But he could tell from Juliet's demeanour she was preparing herself for the worst.

"Juliet" she says approaching her, apologizing for the fact that it had been so long since the last update. The woman doesn't beat around the bush, "there have been some complications Juliet"

James feels Juliet stiffen under his touch. "What kind of complications?" he asks, when Juliet falls silent.

"The tumour was much more vascular than Dr. Shephard expected which has resulted in significant blood loss. We've been transfusing Rachael, but we are having problems maintaining her blood pressure. Dr. Shephard has removed about eighty percent of the tumour but if he is unable to control the bleeding he's going to have to stop"

Juliet absorbs what she was hearing, "if he has to stop, it's okay" she says barely above a whisper. "Rachael and I both knew that this was a long shot and eighty percent is more than we'd dreamed was even possible", she takes a deep breath and it takes all of her strength to continue, "if you think that she's not going to make it, you need to get me. I promised her that if anything happened I would be with her."

The nurse nods her head, "I promise I will". She turns and leaves them alone.

Juliet watches as the nurse heads back to the operating room, she wanted desperately to follow her, to know exactly what was going on in there. She also knew it wasn't in either her or Rachael's best interest for that to happen, not yet anyways.

She feels herself being turned, and looks eye to eye with James. "Come sit" he says leading her towards the chairs.

"I can't sit James"

"I need to tell you something" he says. He could see she was hovering on the edge of tears. He hadn't originally intended to tell her this until later, but now seemed like the right time. She looks at him expectantly, "It's about Rachael" he tells her.

"What about Rachael?" She allows herself to be led over to the couch.

"I met Rachael last night after I got off the phone with you. She called down to the unit and asked me to come to her room"

"Why would she do that?"

"She said she wanted to meet your 'Mystery Guy'", he notices Juliet relax slightly.

"I should have known she'd figure out someway to meet you. I think she thought I was hiding you from her, but I was only waiting till the surgery was over"

"I wasn't worried Blondie, I knew you'd introduce us in your own time. But it seems your sister is somewhat stubborn"

"Understatement if there ever was one"

He smiles, "I would have to say there are some fairly strong similarities between you and her"

"I'm not stubborn"

"Oh definitely not" he teases.

"So she just wanted to meet you?" she asks, now curious to know what else they talked about.

"I think that's the main reason that she asked me to come"

"There's more isn't there?" she asks, sensing he was holding back.

"She said she hasn't ever seen you like she has in the past two weeks that something was different, and despite everything that was going on with her you are happier. She said the only thing that was different was that you had met me"

"Seems my sister has also gotten a little bit bold" Juliet says surprised that Rachael would have had this conversation with James.

"Yeah, well", he says, "She's just looking out for her little sister." He takes her hand and strokes his fingers over it, "Blondie, she wanted to make sure that if anything happened to her today that you were going to be okay that you had someone to support you. I was going to wait to tell you all of this but I think you need to hear it now."

Juliet shakes her head, "No", she whispers. She didn't want to hear this.

"Jules, she wanted you to know how much you mean to her. . . ."

"Why didn't she tell me all of this herself? Why did she tell you?" tears were now brimming over her eyes.

"She said she's tried so many times to tell you how she feels. To thank you for all the happiness you have brought to her, for Julian, but she couldn't ever find the right words. She knew going into this surgery that she might not make it off the table and she had made peace with the fact that she might not survive this time"

Juliet is openly crying now, "Don't you dare try to tell me that she wanted you to tell me goodbye for her"

He gathers Juliet in his arms, and she buries her head in his neck. "Not goodbye" he whispers in her ear, "just that she'd love you forever."

Jack had come out of the operating room he clears his throat to get their attention.

Juliet jumps up off the couch wiping away her tears. James stands behind her.

Juliet tries desperately to read the look on Jack's face. "Jack?"


	11. Stay with me

**Chapter 11**

**Stay with me**

"Let's go sit down Juliet", Jack says touching her arm.

Juliet pulls her arm away from Jack. Bad news always came when doctors made you sit down first. She'd done it herself to families. _"Don't_" she says on the verge of tears again, "I don't want to sit down, just tell me".

James steps closer behind her so that they are touching and he wraps his arms around her, "You can do this" he leans forward whispering in her ear.

James looks at the doctor standing in front of them and again he's hit with a weird sense of deja vu. He knew this man had just spent the last almost 11 hours trying to save Juliet's sister but there was something about him, "Just tell her man, she's been sittin' out here terrified about what has been going on in there"

Jack avoids looking at the man behind Juliet and keeps his eyes on her, "I got all of it" he finally says.

Juliet feels her knees weaken beneath her and James arms tighten around her in response. "All of it?" she says unsure if she'd heard him correctly, "And Rachael is okay?"

"She has a rocky road ahead of her, the surgery was more difficult than I had anticipated but yeah, I got all of it"

She had spent the last six months preparing her self for the worst. Over and over again they'd met with doctors who'd given Rachael no hope for survival and here this man was standing in front of her telling her he'd completely removed Rachael's tumour.

"I don't know what to say" she shakes her head slightly, "I've been afraid to even dream this might be a possibility". It takes her a moment to realize that he'd avoided the question of whether Rachael was okay. "Jack? Rachael _is_ okay right?" She sees the look on her face, and thinks 'here it comes' she knew this was too good to be true.

"Rachael lost a significant amount of blood during the surgery Juliet, and for awhile it was quite difficult to control"

"But you _were_ able to control it?"

He nods, "Yes after awhile. But we had trouble getting her blood to clot properly"

"DIC?" Juliet pales and leans back into James.

"Yes", he confirms, "But we think we've reversed it now"

"_You think?"_ her voice cracks, she was now losing the battle with her emotions and becoming slightly irritated that he seemed evasive with his answers.

"Juliet" he again places his arm on hers, ignoring her tone understanding that she was emotionally maxed at the moment. He maintains his calm demeanour, "Rachael is stable right now and the tumour is gone. The DIC is a complication that I knew might happen, we were prepared for it. And we treated it. Right now her blood pressure is improved and the bleeding is under control. Don't give up hope"

"I need to see her"

"They are just transporting her to the ICU, once she's settled you can see her. I'm going to head there now to check on her"

"Jack, I don't know how I can ever thank you", she says as he starts to leave.

"There is no need for thanks Juliet, I'm just doing my job", he turns again to leave, thankful that the surgery had been somewhat of a success. He couldn't explain why he needed to do this for Juliet. For the life of him he couldn't explain why for some odd reason he felt that it was more Juliet than Rachael that he had done the surgery. That he somehow owed her this. He leaves James and Juliet and walks back to the ICU to check on Rachael.

They stand together silently in the waiting room for quite some time. He gives her the space she needs to absorb the information she'd just been given. Finally she turns in his arms and hugs him, again burying her head into his shoulder. They don't speak, and she doesn't cry but he knows she's fighting it.

"It sounds like it is going to be a bit before we can get you in to see Rachael", he finally says. "Let's go down to the cafeteria and get you something to eat. You haven't had anything all day, except that coffee I brought you this morning" he pulls back from her slightly.

"I can't James"

"Jules, it might be a long night. Let's try okay?"

She had no fight left in her, exhausted both physically and emotionally and she knew he was right. She hadn't eaten all day and it was potentially going to be a long night. She'd now been awake well over twenty four hours, not that it was overly unusual for her, but accompanied by the emotional factor it was taking its toll.

It's late and the cafeteria is essentially empty. He gets them each a bowl of soup and crackers and they take a table in the far back corner. They eat in silence, or rather he eats and after a couple of bites she stirs the spoon around her bowl.

"I was not very nice Jack" she finally says, moving her gaze from the soup bowl to his eyes. "He came here out of the goodness of his heart to help us and I go and give him a hard time about complications that were completely out of his control"

He can't help but smile, of all the things he was thinking were going through her mind that was not one of them. "For some reason I can't help but feel he deserved it"

"James" she gives him a surprised look. "Why would you think that?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "Can't explain it to you" he replies honestly, "but for some reason I just can't help but feel hostility towards the guy even though he came here to help you"

"That deja vu thing again?"

"Yup, strangest damn thing ain't it"

"Yeah, I felt it when I first met him too"

"Maybe we all met in some other life", he says jokingly, after all things like that don't happen in the real world.

She finally cracks a smile, "there's got to be a simpler explanation than that".

"Face it Blondie, it was our destiny for you to run into me in the elevator that day"

"Destiny", she lets out a sarcastic laugh. "I don't believe in destiny James. It's all just coincidence"

"You sure about that?" he asks. He was now just toying with her, happy to see that she'd relaxed just a little bit.

"Positive"

It had been about a half hour since they'd come to the cafeteria. "Think they'll let you in to see Rachael yet?"

She shrugs, "I'm guessing another half hour or so. Takes a bit of time to do the admission stuff"

"Why don't we go check in on Clem? I'm sure she's sleeping by now but I just want to make sure she went down okay"

She nods, "Okay. I should probably call and check on Julian too."

"You can do that from Clem's room" He clears off the table and offers Juliet his hand. Together walk back to Clem's room.

They find Clem sitting up in her crib playing with a toy. "You are supposed to be sleeping munchkin" he says approaching the crib. The little girl looks up from her toys and gives him a smile. He puts the side down on the crib and picks her up, "you were just waiting for dad to come back and put you to bed?" Clem notices Juliet behind her dad and gets excited to see her. She claps her hands together happily. "What I've been replaced? You didn't miss me at all, you missed Juliet?" he asks the little girl.

Juliet holds out her arms and takes the little girl from James. Clem snuggles into Juliet's arms and lays her head on her shoulder. Juliet rubs the little girls back and eyes James suspiciously. "How'd you know I needed this?"

"Lucky guess?" he shrugs.

"Liar"

He smiles, "You've spent every day for the past six weeks lookin' after Julian. I just figured you were probably missing him tonight." He walks over to them and brushes his fingers over Clem's curly hair, "sort of self serving too" he continues gazing into her eyes. "I like seeing the two of you together"

She smiles, leans and kisses him. Once they'd settled a sleeping Clem in the crib and she'd called to check on Julian he takes both of Juliet's hands in his, "you want me to come with you to see Rachael or you want to go alone?"

"I want you to come" she responds quickly.

"As you wish. I think they should be ready for you now. We've given them lots of time"

They leave Clem and head to see Rachael.

"She's in room 8 Dr. Burke", one of the nurses says as they enter the unit.

"Thanks"

A different nurse meets them outside Rachael's room and gives them an update. "She's all settled, Dr. Shephard has asked that we keep her sedated overnight. He'll reassess in the morning whether or not he is ready to wake her up" they are told. Juliet discusses the latest lab results with the nurse and James stands back listening. He had no understanding of any of the numbers that the nurse was giving Juliet but could tell from Juliet's body language that she wasn't overly stressed by anything she was being told.

She thanks the nurse and returns to James. "Her blood work is improving, that's encouraging"

"That's good" he says giving her a reassuring smile.

They enter Rachael's room and he hears Juliet's quiet gasp. Rachael has three times as many tubes and wires attached to her than Clem had when she'd gotten sick. He imagines that she'd seen patients like this before, but not her sister.

"Oh Rach", Juliet says walking slowly over to her bed.

James moves a chair over next to the bed allowing Juliet to sit next to Rachael. He watches as she picks up Rachael's limp hand and wraps it in her own. He moves over behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them. She looks up at him and he notices the tears reforming in her eyes. He senses this time that her tears are more relief than sadness, the worst of the day was over and Rachael was still here. While she had a difficult road to recovery ahead of her, she had survived today which he knew was more than either sister had dreamed would happen.

He remembers what she'd said to him that afternoon when he'd first seen Clem like this, "she's not in any pain Blondie"

She looks up at him and gives him a small smile, "doesn't make it any easier though, does it?"

He shakes his head in agreement, "Nope, but right now it's helpin' her"

It's close to midnight when he can see her eyelids growing heavy and she's fighting a losing battle to keep them open.

"We should go" he finally says. "It's late and you're exhausted. You'll be no good to Rachael tomorrow if you don't get some sleep"

"I don't want to leave" she is still holding Rachael's hand. She hadn't let go of it since they'd come into the room.

"If you don't want to go home, at least let me take you back to your office. I saw you had a couch in there. You should at least try to get some sleep"

She yawns "I think I hate it that you are right all the time"

"Eh well" he grins, "I'm sure that over time that'll change and I'll be hatin' it that you're right all the time"

She finally stands and stretches. "Okay, I'll stay in my office I'm too tired to drive home anyways"

"I can drive you home if you want to go" he tells her.

She shakes her head, "I need to be here, just in case"

"Alright then, office it is"

Juliet gives Rachael a kiss on her forehead and leans over her, whispering in her ear. "I love you forever too sis". She straightens herself and turns to James, holding out her hand which he willingly takes, "I'm ready" she says.

She tells Rachael's nurse where she can find her, and the two head out of the unit. The halls of the hospital were quiet and they make their way in silence to Juliet's office.

"Stay with me" she says when they reach the door. "I don't want to be alone"

"Absolutely"

They enter her office, she turns on her pager and they settle on the couch.

He pulls the blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around them. They sit quietly together, tangled in one another's arms. He comes to the full realizes that he's fallen for this woman harder than he'd ever fallen for anyone before and then wonders if he'd ever truly been in love before and now knows that he hadn't.

When she kisses him it's more passionate than any of the other kisses they'd shared and neither of them wanted to stop. He's trailing kisses down her neck when he finally comes to his senses. "God I want you Juliet" he mumbles against her, "But not like this, not here" He lifts his head and gazes into her blue eyes, she leans in and kisses him again. "I'm falling in love with you" she whispers as she pulls back slightly from him. "Is that even possible in two weeks?"

He tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ears, "Its possible" he says with certainty as he pulls her back into his arms. He can see the exhaustion across her face, "Rest Jules, I've got you"

***

**Okay, so I apologize for ending the last chapter where I did (okay no I don't ;)). But I didn't make you wait long for this one. I had two drafts of this chapter, one where Rachael survived the surgery and one where she didn't. This one won out, it just fits better with the rest of the layout of the story. Plus, there has to be some happiness eventually in this story right?**


	12. He's a good man

**Chapter 12**

**He's a good man**

**-James-**

It wasn't the best sleeping arrangement but they made it work. James felt Juliet get up off the couch numerous times during the night to call the unit and check on Rachel, when she did sleep she was restless. It was somewhere close to dawn when she finally seemed to settle into a restful sleep and when the sun came up she was still soundly sleeping. He managed to untangle himself from her without waking her and wrote a short note letting her know he'd run to check on Clem. He kisses her on the forehead, covers her back up and quietly slips out of the office.

He finds Clem sitting up in her highchair having breakfast. "Hey baby girl" he kisses Clem on the top of the head and sits down beside her. "What's for breakfast?"

The little girl holds out a handful of soggy cereal, "No thanks munch kin, you eat it" he laughs.

She dumps the bowl upside down and flashes him a big smile and for the first time he notices she has dimples. "Looks like you are done" he says not playing into her mischievous mood. "What do you say kiddo you want to bust out of here for awhile and go for a walk with dad?"

"Go?" she points at the door.

He laughs, and realizes just how happy he is that she was getting better and showing her true personality. "Guess that's a yes" He pops his head outside the door and lets her nurse know he was taking her for a walk.

He cleans her up and picks her up out of the highchair. They stop at the cafeteria and pick up a coffee and muffin for Juliet and head back to her office. He quietly opens the door and sees that she's still asleep. "We gotta be quiet munch kin, Juliet sleeping" he tells Clem. He has to hold back a laugh when she puts her chubby finger to her lips and gives him a "Shh".

"That's right" he whispers, "Shh"

Setting the coffee and muffin down on the desk, he sits down with Clementine to wait for Juliet to wake up. He glances around trying to find something to keep Clem amused. There's a textbook sitting on the desk and he flips it open and quickly shuts it again, he'd forgotten for a moment just what kind of doctor Juliet was. "Sorry munch kin, guess that's not really appropriate reading material for a little girl"

Unbeknownst to him, Juliet had woken up at the smell of the coffee. She was listening to James talking to Clem and is unable to hold back the laughter.

"What are you laughing at over there wiseass?" he says glancing at Juliet.

She sits up, still laughing "I'm an obstetrician and fertility specialist James, what did you think you'd find on my desk".

He shrugs his shoulders, of course she was right. "We brought you breakfast" he changes the topic.

She gets up off the couch and walks over to the desk and drapes her arms around his neck, "Good Morning" she mumbles against his lips kissing him.

"Mmm" he says kissing her back, "I could get use to this"

"Makes two of us", Clem holds her arms out to Juliet and she takes her from James. "Good morning to you too sweetheart", she says kissing Clem.

She carries Clem over to the closet and pulls out a bucket of Julian's toys. "You're in luck, I just happen to have some toys in here. Julian's been spending a lot of time hanging out in here with me at the end of the day." She settles Clem down on the floor with the toy bucket and goes back over to James.

He holds out his hand for her and guides her to his lap. "You didn't get much sleep last night"

"I'm alright James", she opens up the coffee and takes a drink.

He eyes her suspiciously, "I'll take your word on that one." He opens up the bag and pulls out the muffin, "Breakfast too Blondie, you ate nothing yesterday"

She can't help but laugh, "Alright, alright". She glances down at the muffin, "How did you know that blueberry was my favourite?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "Call it a lucky guess?" He switches the topic, he had no idea how he'd known that blueberry was her favourite he just knew. "How was Rachael overnight?"

"Stable, her blood work didn't improve but she hasn't had any new bleeding"

"Sounds encouraging"

She nods, "it is. What's on your agenda today?" She watches as he squeezes his eyes shut and puts a hand to his head, "James?" she looks at him with concern.

He hears her ask what's on the agenda and before he could answer he's hit with a similar pain in his head to the one that he had the other day. He puts his hand to his forehead, and is overcome by flashes of white light. The flashing seems to go in pace with the pulsating pain in his head. He squeezes his eyes shut trying to block out the intense pain and lights. The flashes were so intense this time that he's unable to identify what the imagines between the flashes were. Again, seemingly as quickly as it started it was finished.

"James", he can hear the concern in his voice and feel her hand on his but can't seem to form any words. "Hey" she says when he finally opens his eyes. "What happened?"

"One second I heard you asking what I was planning to do today the next that same pain and flashing white lights"

"It's gone now?" she asks still worried. She trails her fingers across his forehead, "It looked pretty intense"

"It was a bit different from before, but ya, it's gone. What the hell is going on Juliet?"

She drapes her arms around him and leans her head against his, "We'll figure it out James. I haven't a clue what it means, but we'll figure it out"

**-Juliet-**

"There you are", Jack says approaching Juliet.

Juliet had walked James and Clem back to her room and then gone to check on Rachael. She was bothered by the episode that James had had this morning. The first time they'd chocked it up to coincidence, now she wondered what the hell it all meant. She is lost in though when Jack comes up behind her.

"Juliet?" he says again, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She turns at the feel of his hand, "Oh hi Jack"

He pulls up a chair beside her, "You were a million miles away just now"

"Sorry", she apologizes, "I just have a lot on my mind right now"

"Understandable" he glances at Rachael. "Anything you want to talk about, I'm a good listener"

She debates saying anything to him about the weird things that had happened in the weeks since she first met James, and him for that matter but decides she didn't have anything to lose. "Hmm, how are you with strange crazy coincidences and headaches involving flashing lights and visions of things you don't understand"

"You are going to have to give me a little bit more than that to go on Juliet"

"Yesterday before the surgery when we were talking", she starts

He nods, "When you blanked out on me"

"Yes" she nods, "I . . . well, it wasn't stress that caused it or I don't think it was"

"I'm not sure I'm following Juliet"

She explains the episode to him, the intense headache, the flashing lights, the visions and the fact that now it has happened twice to James. "I don't understand any of it, I met James two weeks ago and I feel like I've known him for years. There is a connection between us that I don't understand. And you", she starts "when I met you I couldn't help but feel that I knew you as well" She searches his face, trying to read his expression.

"Do you have a scar on your back?" he asks out of the blue.

"Jack?" she looks at him confused, she almost didn't want to admit it but does, "I got burned when I was five. Rachael and I were playing around . . . it looks more like I was marked than burned" she is silent for a moment "how did you know?"

"Because I've seen it"

"But" she shakes her head, she gets up and walks around the room "there's no way you could have seen it. We've never met before Jack"

"Last night, after finishing the surgery. . . after I left you and James in the waiting room something similar happened to me Juliet"

She pushes her hand through her hair, trying to understand what all this meant.

"I didn't come here for Rachael" he admits. "I came because for some crazy reason I felt that I owed it to you to help her"

She shakes her head, "none of this makes any sense"

"None of what makes any sense?" James asks stepping into Rachael's room. He sees the distressed look on Juliet's face and walks over to her. He glares at Jack, annoyed that he seemed to have upset her.

"The flashes" she says taking his hand.

"You told him?" he asks surprised she'd mention it to Jack.

She nods, "James, it's not what you think. I was worried I wanted to see what he thought about it, only the same thing has happened to him too"

"Last night", Jack explains, "I didn't really understand what it meant. I figured it was exhaustion from the long surgery, but obviously something more is going on here" Jack says getting up from his chair.

"Obviously" James says sarcastically.

"Juliet" they hear Rachael's hoarse voice from the bed.

They all turn at the sound of her voice. Juliet goes over to her bedside and sits down in the chair taking Rachael's hand. "Hey, welcome back" she says with a smile.

Rachael moves slightly and winces from the pain causing her heart rate to jump and her monitor to beep off.

Jack goes to the other side of the bed, turns off the alarm to Rachael's monitor and gives her a dose of pain medication.

"You did great Rach", Juliet tells her. "Jack got the entire tumour"

"All of it?" Rachael asks surprised.

Jack nods his head, "Its all gone Rachael. You'll still need to finish up your chemo and radiation treatments but I see no reason to believe that after that this will be over"

Juliet wipes a tear that slides from Rachael's eye. "Don't cry Rach" she says feeling herself get teary. "It's all going to be okay now"

James slips out of Rachael's room, Juliet needed time with her sister alone and the mere presence of Jack Shepard seemed to be irritating him right now. He heads back to Clementine and lets her nurse know that he needed to head out of the hospital for a few hours.

Juliet notices Rachael fighting to keep her eyes open, "Don't fight it honey, just sleep. I won't be far away when you wake up" She feels Rachael's hang go limp in her own and knows that she's given in to sleep. She fixes the blankets around her and stands back up. Looking around the room she realizes that James is gone.

"He left a bit ago", Jack tells her.

Juliet wonders what would have caused him to leave like that. For the past twenty four hours he'd barely left her side and now he walked out without saying goodbye.

"You sure you really know him Juliet?" It's out of his mouth before he can stop himself and he realizes he had no right to ask the question. "Sorry Juliet, it's really none of my business"

"You're right, it's not" she responds without thinking, "He's a good man Jack" she says defending him, "he just needs to realize that"

Juliet's pager goes off and she glances down at the number, "It's my friend Kate", she says. "She's looking after Julian for me. I've got to take this"

He nods in understanding. "I'll talk to you later Juliet." Outside the room, he leans against he wall outside the room, "what the hell is going on?" he wonders to himself.


	13. I'm with you

**Chapter 13**

**I'm with you**

**-Juliet-**

Leaving Rachael she heads looking for James. She finds Clem alone, playing in her crib. "Where'd daddy go?" she asks the little girl.

Clem smiles at her, "Go?" she asks pointing at the door, causing Juliet to laugh. "No not you honey", she puts the side rail down and picks the little girl up. "Where did _daddy_ go?"

The nurse pops her head around the corner, "he left awhile ago. Said he needed to get out of the hospital for awhile"

Juliet sits down in the rocking chair with Clem, "that's strange" she says to the little girl. "What's up with that daddy of yours today?" Clem snuggles into Juliet as they rock.

"You know sweetheart", she says talking to her, "I can't wait till you are all better and Rachael is all better and we can all get out of this hospital" She looks down at Clem who was fighting a losing battle with sleep. "I know that I work here but I think we've all spent a bit too much time here lately" She brushes the stray curls from Clem's face, and notices she's lost the battle with falling asleep. It brings a smile to her face; who would have thought she'd be such an easy going baby after those first few rocky days. She thinks about that sad little girl she'd met two weeks ago and how they'd instantly bonded. "I love you sweetheart", she says kissing the top of her curly head. She thinks about laying Clem down in the crib but enjoys the comfort of having her in her arms. She puts her feet up on the foot stool and closes her own eyes.

This is how James finds them a few hours later when he returns.

"They've been sleeping like that for the last few hours" the nurse sitting in the room tells him. "I didn't have the heart to wake them up"

He smiles. "Thanks, I appreciate you watching over them." She gets up and leaves them alone.

James walks over and kisses Juliet on the forehead, "Hey Sleeping Beauty, you are gonna sleep the day away"

She opens her eyes and it takes her a moment to realize where she is and that Clem is still asleep in her arms. "Hey, you're back" she smiles.

"Sorry I left like that. I needed to get out of here for a few hours"

"Are you alright? I was worried when disappeared from Rachael's room without a goodbye"

He nods, "I was frustrated that I can't figure any of this out. There is more to this than mere coincidences." Furthermore, he didn't like Jack Shephard but couldn't explain why and he wasn't about to go there with Juliet, not after the guy had just saved her sister.

She nods in agreement, "Maybe, but James a part of me doesn't care. I'm grateful that I ended up on the paediatric unit that day and met Clem, I'm grateful for whatever led us to be in that elevator together. Whatever brought us together, it happened. The rest, it just doesn't matter"

"Don't get me wrong Juliet, I'm grateful too but a part of me just can't let it go that easily, not when so much doesn't make sense. How is it that Saint Jack just happened to ride in here on his white horse and save Rachael and we both seem to know him?"

She carefully gets up from the rocking chair trying not to wake Clem and lays her down in the crib. She walks over to James and drapes her arms around him, kissing him deeply. "This is all that matters" she mumbles against him, "You and me".

He pulls back from her just slightly so he can look her in the eye, "Now see, that's a just plain devious way to make me forget about whatever it was we were talking about. What _were_ we talking about?" he asks as she kisses him again. Maybe she was right maybe he just needed to let it go.

"Doesn't matter" she says pulling away from him just far enough for their lips not to be touching.

"You win, for now"

"So, she says pulling back slightly further from him remembering that they were standing in Clem's hospital room, and she did still work in this hospital "what did you do while you were out?"

"Actually" he grins, "I got a job"

"Really?"

He nods, "It's not glamorous by any means, but it's a start. I stopped by the apartment to pick up the keys and the apartment manager asked if I'd be interested in doing maintenance around the building. He's older and says he can't keep up with it anymore. I figured what the hell, it'll do till I find something better"

"That's great James" she smiles.

"Really?" he asks, "You don't mind that I'm just a lowly maintenance guy and you are a hot shot fertility doctor?"

"Not in the least" she responds quickly. "Does it bother you?"

"I would be lying if I said that it didn't bother me a bit" he replies honestly, "I'm not exactly a wealthy man Juliet. I can't provide you the kind of life you are use too"

She shakes her head, "Money doesn't mean anything to me James".

"You really mean that don't you"

"Absolutely"

He wraps his arms around her and hugs her, silently thanking whoever, or whatever it was that brought her into his life.

**-James-**

The next week passed surprisingly uneventfully.

Two days earlier he'd gotten the final word from the judge that he'd been given custody of Clementine and quite frankly he was walking on air. He keeps thinking back to one month ago when being a father was the last thing on his mind and now he looked forward to waking up every morning and seeing that little girl. He didn't expect it to be easy when they left the hospital. So far he hadn't had to care for her alone having had the help of the nurses. He'd be the first to admit he was more than a little nervous about what life would be like tomorrow morning when they woke up in their apartment alone and he was responsible for her.

He spent as much time as possible with Juliet and most nights after the kids had gone to sleep they'd spend hours talking on the phone. Originally she had only planned to take a few days off after Rachael's surgery but had extended the vacation by a few weeks, saying that she'd worked years without taking vacation and now seemed as good of time as any. He couldn't say that he minded all that much.

He'd started doing work around the apartment building and so far the building manager was impressed with the work that he'd done.

Juliet had been able to get Clem into the hospital daycare even though he wasn't working at the hospital. He wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but he didn't care either, it worked in more ways than one for both of them.

He'd been able to work with Cassidy's lawyer to get Clem's stuff from Cassidy's estate. The rest of her things he'd put in storage. Someday when Clem was older they'd go through it together and she could decide which of her mom's things she wanted.

And the best part, neither of them had had any more crazy flashes. Life, dare he think it was somewhat normal.

Juliet pops her head into Clem's room, "You ready for coffee?" she asks.

He turns and smiles at her, "Absolutely". Clem was happily playing with her toys. He lets the nurse know he was stepping out and they head to the coffee shop.

"Are you ready for today?" Juliet asks once they are sitting at their table.

"Ready as I'm ever gonna be"

"You are going to be great James", she says putting her hands over his.

He smiles at her, "Thanks for believin' in me"

"You just have to start believing in yourself"

"You know that I might be calling you at three am if we run into problems"

"Well", she smiles, "we could just solve that problem and Julian and I could stay there with you tonight"

"Don't tempt me Blondie, you don't know just _how_ much I want that" it had been days since they'd spent any time truly alone together.

"Well then", she gives him a look, "you just have to say the word"

He lets out a low groan, god he loved this woman, wanted to spent the rest of his life with her and being an adult sucked sometimes but "I need to prove to myself that I can take care of that little girl" he says, "so _tonight_ I think we need to stay by ourselves. Do you understand?"

"Of course I understand James, just know that if you need me I'm only be a phone call away"

He smiles, "Now the rest of the day" he starts, "I will take you up on your offer. Will you help me get her home?"

"Absolutely" she smiles. "Julian's in day care. Rachael's getting stronger every day. I'm yours for the day"

James happens to glance up and see Jack in the coffee line up, "What's the doc still doing here?" he asks. "I thought he was headed back to L.A. yesterday"

Juliet glances over her shoulder and sees Jack and then returns her gaze to James, "he's been in meetings with the chief of staff, they were impressed with what he was able to do with Rachael and they've been trying to recruit him"

"Go figure" he says shaking his head.

"James", she can't help but laugh, "he really does bother you doesn't he?"

He nods, "I can't explain it Blondie. There's just something, maybe the deja vu thing we've decided we aren't gonna talk about or I guess the other part of it has to do with the way he looks at you"

"The way he looks at me?" she asks surprised.

"You haven't noticed?"

She shakes her head, trying not to laugh "James, are you jealous of him?" she asks point blank.

He laughs, "Hell no, it's him that's drinking his coffee alone" he says with a smirk. Although a part of him had to admit that the guy was probably more suited for Juliet than he was.

She glances back over her shoulder one more time and sees Jack leaving the coffee shop and returns her attention to James. "I'll always be grateful to him for saving Rachael's life James but that's all, I'm with you." She didn't want to think about Jack Shephard, crazy coincidences or hospitals for that matter.

She intertwines her fingers with him, looking down at their hands, "Let's go get your baby girl and take her home James" she says looking up and meeting his eyes.

A few hours later he flops down onto the couch beside Juliet and wraps an arm around her. He watches Clem playing with her toys on the floor. "I can't believe this is really happening" he says.

She leans over and kisses him, "Believe it"

"Do you realize that this is the first time since we've met that we've been completely alone" he grins at her.

She gestures towards the little girl playing on the floor, "not _completely_ alone James" she laughs.

"Yeah, well" he grins at her, "you know what I mean"

She pulls him into a kiss, and as they pull apart she grins at him, "I know exactly what you mean"

Hours later she's getting ready to leave. "You're sure you don't want me to come back after I've picked up Julian"

"I love that you are worried about us, but the munch kin and I will be fine Blondie"

She glances over his shoulder at the little girl still happily playing, "I know you'll be fine, it's just. . "

He can tell by the look on her face she wanted to say something else "Just what Blondie?"

She shakes her head, "it's nothing". She wraps her arms around him giving him one last hug and kiss. "Good luck, I'll call you later" she says heading out the door before he can question her further.

He heads back into the living room once she's gone and sits back down on the couch watching Clem play. For a split second he has second thoughts about trying this alone. What was he doing, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Juliet, why was he sending her away when so clearly she was willing and wanted to stay? He shakes his head no he needed to do this at least once on his own to prove to himself that the judge wasn't wrong in giving him custody of his daughter.

********

**Okay, first off thanks for continuing to read this story and for reviewing. **

**Secondly, I'll admit it this chapter is mostly fluff, but I like Suliet fluff so that's what you get :). Hope you enjoy!**


	14. It's not the falling that hurts

**Chapter 14**

**It's not the falling that hurts, it's the landing!**

**-Juliet-**

Leaving James and Clem, Juliet headed back to the hospital to pick up Julian and spend some time with Rachael. She was distracted through her entire visit with Rachael and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Jules, what's up with you tonight?" Rachael asks.

She shakes her head, "I don't know Rach, I just have this", she shrugs her shoulders she couldn't explain it. She'd done the same thing with James when she'd left his apartment earlier, shrugging off the uneasy feeling that was bugging her.

It had been over a week since either of them had the strange memory flashes, and she'd tried to convince herself that they had meant nothing. Surely _if_ they'd meant something they would have happened again, or they'd have been able to figure it out by now. "It's nothing Rach, I'm fine"

Rachael rolls her eyes at Juliet, "You aren't fine Juliet you've been fidgeting and pacing around the room since you got here. Is everything alright with you and James? "

"We're fine", she replies quickly. "James and Clem are great"

"Then _what_ is it, and don't tell me it's nothing. I know you better than anyone Juliet and you don't pace around nervously. It's not your style. . . "

She flops down in the chair beside Rachael's bed, "Honestly, I just don't know"

Rachael rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her sister, "Sometimes I wonder about you little sister" and she'd left it at that.

Leaving the hospital and getting home did nothing to help Juliet to shake the uneasy feeling that had been plaguing her all day. When she thought back over the day it had started that morning and only intensified throughout her afternoon with James and Clem. For the life of her she honestly couldn't explain it.

She'd gotten Julian tucked into his bed and sleeping not that she'd expected him to stay there. He'd only slept that one night by himself in the entire time she'd been caring for him. Once she had him tucked into bed she filled up the bathtub with hot water and bubbles and poured herself a glass of wine. It was only nine thirty she'd call James after relaxing in the tub.

**-James- **

James had fed Clem and successfully gotten her into bed and he was pretty damn proud of him self. He glances at the clock, it was after ten and Juliet hadn't called yet.

"That's strange" he thinks.

He thinks back to when she'd left earlier and it hadn't dawned on him then but something had been off with her. It wasn't like her to push that hard to stay with him. Other than that one night in her office they hadn't spent any nights together. It wasn't that they both hadn't wanted too, but she had Julian and he had Clem, responsibilities that took precedence over what they both wanted.

He'd been so preoccupied with having to prove to himself that he could look after Clem alone that he hadn't really seen it. He picks up the phone and dials her number, after six rings the machine picks up, "Jules it's me, call me back."

It was strange that she didn't answer and he wonders if something had happened with Rachael. He tries her cell and gets the answering machine there too. He leaves a similar message and hangs up the phone. He flips on the television, he'd give her a bit to call back then he'd try her again.

**-Juliet-**

The bubble bath and wine had done nothing to calm whatever it was that was bothering her. At some point in the past few hours her head had started to ache. She couldn't exactly pinpoint when it started. She rarely got headaches and this one was different from any regular headache but also different from the intense headache she'd had which accompanied the strange flashes.

She glances at the clock and it was just after ten. She goes to the living room and curls up in the corner of the couch. She hadn't heard the phone when she was in the bath and didn't realize the machine was flashing with a message. "I should call James" she thinks to herself, it had become part of her nightly routine to talk to him before bed. She presses her fingers against her temples trying to push away the headache. "Ten minutes" she thinks to herself, "then I'll get up and call." She closes her eyes.

She wakes with a gasp, having the sensation that she was falling and grasps the edge of the couch to steady her self. She knew she'd been dreaming but for the life of her other than the sensation of falling couldn't figure out what else the dream had been about. She pushes her hand through her hair, the headache was still there but just a dull ache now.

The sound of her pager draws her out of her thoughts. Disoriented she glances at the clock seeing that it's almost eleven. She'd been asleep less than an hour but it felt like she'd slept the entire night. She pulls the beeping pager from her purse and glances down at the number, "James", she'd fallen asleep and not called him.

Going to the kitchen to get the phone she realizes the machine has two messages. She hits play and both are from James. She wonders how she had missed the phone not once but twice.

**-James-**

He'd tried Juliet again at ten thirty and still got no answer. There had to be a reasonable explanation for why he couldn't get a hold of her. He'd called the hospital to check on Rachael and the nurse assured him that she was fine and Juliet had left hours ago.

He didn't want to seem too obsessive, but as the evening wore on he'd gotten his own uneasy feeling that something wasn't right. Finally after she hadn't answered the phone for the second time he gives in and pages her. At this point he wasn't sleeping tonight till he heard her voice and knew that she was okay.

Ten minutes after he'd paged her his phone rang. He picks it up on the first ring, "Juliet?"

"Hey", her voice was off and he was glad he went the obsessed boyfriend route and persisted till he got a hold of her.

"Jules, what's wrong?"

"I don't know" she sinks back down on her couch.

This only worried him more, "Blondie you are gonna have to be a little more specific than that."

She pushes the palm of her hand into her forehead trying desperately to remember whatever it was she'd been dreaming about before she'd woken with the sensation of falling. "How did the evening go?" she asks, going for a subject change versus trying to sort out whatever the hell it was that was going on with her tonight.

"Everything's good here", why was she trying to change the subject? "Julie, what's going on?"

She sighs, "I've just got a headache James, I'm sorry that I worried you. I fell asleep and didn't hear the phone."

He felt like an ass for waking her up, but her telling him not to worry only stresses him more, she just sounded so off tonight "A regular headache or another flash headache?"

She hesitates, "A regular headache, I think"

"You don't sound so sure" he prods her further.

"I don't know" she finally admits after a long pause, "Something has felt off all day and I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. My head was aching by the time I got home tonight. I put Julian to bed, relaxed in the tub then fell asleep on the couch. I feel like I was dreaming about something that I need to remember, but I just can't seem to remember what it is"

He wishes that he'd let her stay tonight. He couldn't help but feel that there was something else she wasn't telling him. She had a way of hiding things from him over the phone that she couldn't in person, or so he'd thought because obviously she'd hid her uneasy feelings from him all day. "Juliet, you've been under an incredible amount of stress for the past few weeks." Forget weeks he thinks to himself, he'd only known her for weeks. "Strike the weeks", he tells her "You've been stressed for months. Now that things have calmed down I'm sure it's all just caught up with you"

Again she pushes her free hand through her hair and squishes her eyes tightly shut, it was right there, she knew it was. If only she could remember. "It could be, that's a perfectly logical explanation", she admits to him. Yet when you combined that with everything that had happened between them in the past few weeks it didn't really seem all that perfectly logical anymore.

He hears her yawn and glances at the clock seeing that it is now near midnight. "You're tired Blondie and it's late. Are you going to be okay for the rest of the night?"

She hears Julian cry out for her. "Yeah" she says whether or not it was true. There was nothing that she could solve tonight. She was either going to remember or she wasn't. "Julian's crying James, I've got to go"

He can hear the little boy in the background. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning. I love you Jules"

"I love you back"

After a quick exchange of goodnights they hang up.

James checks on Clem and goes back to the couch. He mindlessly flips through on channels on the television again, thinking over the conversation he'd just had with Juliet.

**-Juliet-**

Juliet goes to Julian's room. After a drink of water and another story she's thankfully able to resettle him.

Finally she climbs into her bed. It doesn't take long for her long to fall into a restless sleep. Hours later she again wakes with a gasp clutching the blankets on the bed. The sensation of falling had been so real. When her eyes fly open she feels nothing but intense pain throughout her entire body. There wasn't one specific thing that hurt it was everything.

"Oh God" she gasps, tears springing to her eyes as she tries to catch her breath. "What's happening to me?" She was on the verge of panicking. She couldn't call out to Julian, she'd just frighten him. She's afraid to move because even breathing hurt at the moment.

She closes her eyes and tries to slow her breathing. Panicking wasn't going to do her any good at the moment. She does this for five minutes, then ten. She was a doctor for pity sake this didn't make any reasonable sense. She systematically goes through different things that could be happening too her and not one of them fit with what she was feeling. One doesn't go to sleep, dream that they are falling and wake up feeling like they'd landed. It just doesn't happen, not in any medical textbooks that she'd ever read.

What seemed like hours later the intensity of the pain she was feeling decreased and by the time the sun came up she'd felt like she'd run some kind of marathon during the night. Her whole body ached.

It's a bit later when Julian comes bouncing into her room, "I up Auntie Juwiet" he says jumping up onto her bed.

"Yes you are" she says putting a smile on her face for the sake of the little boy. He'd been through so much in the past few months she wasn't going to let on to him that something wasn't alright with her right now.

She pulls herself to a sitting position, her muscles all protesting while she did so. 'It's the flu' she thinks to herself. That's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the muscles aches and pains she tries to convince herself. "Honey, do you think you can get Auntie Juliet the phone? It's in the living room"

The little boy nods and bounces back off the bed, causing her to wince. She carefully moves herself to the side of the bed and using the furniture to support herself she makes her way to the bathroom. "Sheesh Burke" she thinks, looking at herself in the mirror. She pulls her hair back into a ponytail and splashes water on her face. Her protesting muscles had loosened up a little bit as she moved around but all she wanted to do was curl back up in the bed and sleep the day away.

Julian comes bouncing back into the bedroom with the phone. She's about to dial James number when she hears the doorbell. She reaches to the bathroom door and pulls down her robe from the hook and puts it on.

"I get it, I get it", Julian runs from the room.

"Wait honey", she calls after him, "Don't open the door till I get out there." She arrives in the living room as Julian is opening the door. On the other side of the door is James, Clem in one arm and coffee in the other.

"Hey Julian" he says coming into the house. His eyes fall on Juliet. She was white as a ghost and looked like she was about ready to fall over.

"Jules?"

He sets the coffee down on the coffee table and Clem down on the floor. "Hey" he says kissing her forehead when he reaches her. He leads her to the couch and watches as she winces as she sits down. He's glad he'd followed his instincts not to call this morning but just to come over. "What's going on?" he asks.

"I think I have the flu" wondering if she was still trying to convince herself or him.

Taking in her appearance he'd say that was a real possibility. "No fever" he says reaching up and placing a hand across her forehead. "Could explain why you felt off yesterday and had a headache last night though"

She rubs her fingers across her forehead, "I don't think it's the flu" she blurts out. Before he can respond she tells him about everything that happened during the previous evening before they'd talked on the phone up to and including what happened when she'd woken up during the night.

When she's finished he pulls her into his arms, "think your friend Kate would come over and watch the kids for a bit?" he asks.

"Probably, why?"

"Cause I'm taking you to the hospital, we are goin' to see Jack"

**********

**Again thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing.**

**This chapter didn't exactly come together as I'd wanted it too and I almost scrapped it, but I think you'll be able to get what I was going for (hopefully :)). I think I'm looking at about twenty chapters in total but I suck at guessing. . LOL my last story was gonna be 12 chapters and ended up being 45 so we'll see!**

**I love that you all jumped to conclusions about Kate (but is it the Kate you are thinking it is?) You'll find out soon ;))...**


	15. It worked

**Chapter 15**

**It worked**

Two hour later they are in the car headed to the hospital. The majority of the trip is in silence each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Your friend Kate" he finally asks. "You known her long?

"A few years" she responds quickly. "I've worked with her husband Tom at the hospital for probably five years now. Kate and Tom were childhood sweethearts. She always jokes that Tom has kept her on the straight and narrow, she had a rough childhood" she stops not elaborating, "why the questions about Kate?"

"She's watching my kid. I'm curious. Not that I don't trust you, but I'm new to this protective father thing", he flashes her a smile.

"And?" Juliet asks. They knew each other well enough now to know when there was more.

"And you ever felt like you know her in another way?"

She looks over at him, "You aren't serious?" she asks. "Kate? No! But I'm guessing based on your question that you do"

It had been bugging him since Kate had come over. "Yeah" he admits. He hits his hand on the steering wheel, "What the hell is going on Jules?"

"Wish I knew", she winces as he hits a pothole.

He reaches out his hand to hers, giving it a gentle squeeze, "Sorry"

She shrugs her shoulders, "You have nothing to be sorry for, it's not like you caused this"

"Maybe I did" he replies after a moment. "None of this crazy stuff was happening in your life till I came into it"

"Don't even think that. I can deal with this. Besides, if it's not the flu there has to be some other logical explanation. It makes no sense that I could get hurt in a dream, right?"

He glances over at her quickly, giving her a sceptical look, "first time for everything" he says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

She can't help but shake her head at him, "Wiseass".

The rest of the ride to the hospital is in silence. Juliet resisted his persistence that they go the emergency room. "What are we going to tell them James, my bed beat me up?" she asks sarcastically.

"Cute Jules, but it only takes one look at you to know that somethin' ain't right with you"

"We can go to my office we'll get Jack to come there. I don't want to talk about this where anyone else can hear us"

"Fine" he gives in. She was probably right, anyone other than Jack wasn't going to understand any of this anyways.

They get to her office without running into anyone Juliet worked with. He settles her on the couch and pages Jack. Within ten minutes Jack arrives at Juliet's office. He was still in meetings with the hospital board but thankfully he'd listened when James had pleaded with him that it was important that he came.

"What's up?" he asks when James lets him. "I have another meeting in twenty minutes"

"I think you are going to need to cancel it Doc", James says motioning towards Juliet. "We need your help with something"

Jack glances at Juliet and is struck by her pale appearance, "Juliet?" he asks sitting next to her on the couch.

Juliet explains to him what she'd experienced over the past twenty four hours.

"Okay, first thing first" he says after listening to her story with a hint of disbelief "we need to rule out that anything is physically wrong with you"

"We can use the exam room next door. My secretary is off while I'm on vacation. There's nobody here" Juliet tells them.

An hour later they still really had no explanation for what was causing Juliet's symptoms. "I can't find anything wrong with you Juliet", he tells her, "your blood pressure and heart rate are both up but I would think that it's explainable by the symptoms you are experiencing." He shrugs his shoulders at a loss for how to explain her physical symptoms, "we'll see what the blood work shows. And I'm going to arrange to send you for an MRI"

She stops him, "It won't show anything Jack, it's a waste of time and resources."

He sighs, "Juliet, it's important"

She shakes her head, "Twenty four hours, the headache flashes were quick. If this is something similar it should be short lasting too. Let's see what comes of this by tomorrow."

"Juliet, what's the harm in doing it today?" James had been standing in the background but now approaches Juliet.

"I'm feeling better James. Whatever it is, it's passing . . ." She wonders whether she's trying to convince herself or James and Jack.

He calls her bluff, "Sit up then Jules." He wasn't sure if it was fear or stubbornness that was causing her to lie but he wasn't going to let her pass this off as nothing. She'd convinced him a week ago to let the flashes go, pass them off as coincidence and move on. He was willing to do that then, but not now that whatever it was that was happening was affecting her in such a physical way.

She stubbornly pushes herself to a sitting position, cursing under her breath as she did so.

"Arrange the MRI Jack" he says approaching Juliet. He puts a hand on each of her cheeks, "we ain't leaving this till tomorrow Blondie" he says looking her in the eyes.

Jack goes back into Juliet's office to make the arrangements.

A few hours later they are all sitting back in Juliet's office. "Have you ever been in an accident Juliet?" he asks her point blank, "or repeatedly dislocated your shoulder?"

She shakes her head, "Umm", she wonders why the questions, "Never"

"Your MRI shows multiple old healed fractures, and there is also evidence which would lead me to believe that your shoulder has been dislocated multiple times."

"I", she's speechless, and takes a moment to let the ramifications of what he's just told her sink in. "How is that even possible?"

Jack is also at a loss, "I don't know Juliet, but the results are consistent with the pain you are having now, except for the fact the damage is healed"

"The blood work?" she asks, suddenly afraid of what it might show based on the fact that she had no reason to have multiple old fractures showing up on an MRI.

"Nothing there that would be useful in figuring this out" he says shaking his head.

"Sonofabitch", James mumbles under his breath. "So what now?"

Jack shakes his head, "We can admit you to manage the pain, that's all I've got right now."

She shakes her head, "I want to be at home, Julian won't understand"

He nods, "Alright then, I can give you a script for something you can take at home" He's at a loss, "hopefully, hell, I'm sorry Juliet, I wish I could give you a better answer but I have no idea what you should expect" He writes out a script and hands it to James.

"Jack, don't" she says. "It's not like any of us have been able to figure this out. Why should it be any easier for you? "

James looks at Juliet, "you ready to go?"

Before Juliet can answer, Jack interrupts. "I.... you both need to know that later today I'm headed back to L.A. "

They both look at him surprised.

"I was in Australian in September, went there to accompany my father's body back to L.A."

James looks at him curiously.

"The airline misplaced my father's body if you can imagine that." Before either can respond he continues. "I got a call last night saying they'd recovered it, he's coming on a flight from Sydney tomorrow. I need to go home so I can finally bury him. I'll be back by the end of next week though, I'm seriously contemplating the hospitals' offer. I'm over due for a change in my life. But regardless of what is happening with the hospital, we need to figure this out"

"Sydney, September", James had blocked out half of the rest of what the doc was saying. Was it possible, was that why the guy was so damn familiar.

"What flight were you on?" he asks out of the blue, "when you flew home"

Jack gives him a questioning look, "Oceanic Flight 815, September 22, why?"

"Sonofabitch" James mumbles, "I was on that flight too"

"James", Juliet looks up at him, her voice was low. "My friend Kate, the one you met this morning. She was on that flight too. Her mom lives in L.A. she stopped there on the way home from Sydney to visit with her"

James looks over at Juliet surprised, "Maybe that's where I recognize her from?"

If only it was that easy, "you think?" she asks.

"More damn coincidences" he says shaking his head.

Jack watches them. He tosses the name Kate over and over in his mind. "Maybe now isn't the greatest time for me to leave"

Juliet shakes her head, "Jack you have to go, it's your father"

He was conflicted, but Juliet was right. "Yeah" he says finally. "But forget next week, I'll be back as soon as possible"

They were all in agreement that this was the best that could happen right now. "Okay then. In the interim we'll just see what happens next. Apparently we should be ready for anything" Jack says glancing down at Juliet.

After goodbyes James and Juliet are back on their way to her place.

Once home they are greeted by the kids and Kate. Seeing Juliet looking exhausted James finally convinces her that she needed to go and lie down. He tucks her into bed and gives her a dose of the medication that Jack had prescribed for her. It doesn't take her long to give into sleep.

Returning to the living room he finds Kate still playing with Julian and Clem.

Kate turns her attention towards him, "Is she okay?"

"Yeah", he says half telling the truth. They had no freaking clue what was going on, was she truly okay, he couldn't answer that. "It's just the flu, I'm sure in a day or so she'll be feeling like herself again" he tells her, having no idea how to explain the situation.

"Not surprising", Kate says. "She's been under a lot of stress lately. I'm surprised she hasn't come down with something before this. With everything with Rachael and all, I mean"

He nods, he hates lying to her knowing that she was a good friend of Juliet's but honestly what was he going to tell her. "She told me that you've been a great help to her through all this", the more he talked to Kate the stronger the sense of deja vu. He felt like the answers were all right there, he just needed to figure it out.

They chat for the next twenty minutes, glancing at her watch Kate finally stands, "I should get going. My husband will be home soon"

James walks her to the door, "I can't thank you enough for watching the kids for us today."

"Not a problem." As Kate is walking out the door she turns to look at him, "Have we ever met before?" she asks.

He stops in his tracks, so she felt it too. "Don't think so" he is quick to reply. "But Jules mentioned that you flew home from Australia in September, via L.A.. By the sounds of it we were on the same flight."

She looks at him curiously, "Maybe that's it", she says not really convincingly. She shrugs her shoulders it would come to her eventually. "Tell Juliet to call me if she needs anything"

He nods, "Will do. Thanks again Kate" he says shutting the door behind her. He turns and leans against the door pushing his hands through his hair. "What the hell is going on" he wonders.

From the bedroom he hears Juliet scream.

"Sonofabitch" he says running towards the bedroom.

He finds her thrashing around the bed still sound asleep. "Hey, hey" he says soothingly, pulling her into his arms. "I've got you, wake up Juliet it's just a dream"

She continue's thrashing around, lost in her dream.

"_Where do you think your going Blondie? _

_Hold on, hold on"_

Her eyes fly open, "James" she looks at him panicked.

"Juliet?" he brushes the hair from her face. "What is it?" he asks seeing the panic in her eyes.

She closes her eyes again. The dream had been so vivid. She'd been dragged across the ground by chains and into some kind of pit, just as she had been about to fall he'd grabbed her hand.

"Come on Jules, open your eyes" he pleads with her.

It seems like an eternity but she finally opens her eyes. She glances around the room disoriented and it takes a moment for her to remember where she was. "It worked" she whispers, looking him in the eyes.


	16. Off to see the fishies!

**Chapter 16**

**Off to see the fishies!**

He looks at her, confused by her comment, "What worked Blondie?"

"You caught me" she's looking at him but still not fully with him.

"Juliet, you were dreaming. What was the dream about?"

It takes another few minutes for her to become more alert and her eyes to become less vacant looking, "I . . . we" she puts a hand to her head, as if trying to clear away whatever it was that was clouding her memory, "we were in the jungle at some kind of construction site. I was being dragged by chains into a pit, I was just about to fall and you caught me. You were pleading with me to hang on", more bits and pieces of the dream come flooding back to her. Despite not understanding what it all meant the emotion behind it was still so fresh in her mind and tears start to stream down her face. "I tried. . . I tried to hang on but you were going to fall too. . . ". Her voice cracks as she speaks.

"Hey" he says, wiping away the tears as they fell, "Julie it was a dream, I'm here and you're safe." He wonders if the dream and her confusion were related to the medication that Jack had prescribed for her. When her tears slow he asks her again, "What did you mean when you said that it worked?"

She pushes her hands over eyes and up through her hair. The emotions brought on by the dream were so fresh and as she tried to piece together the dream it just didn't make sense. Her sadness was replaced with frustration. "I don't know" she says honestly, "Damn it" her frustration takes over," it feels like I'm so close to figuring this out and I just can't. It is right there in front of me and I just can't get to it"

He wasn't sure what to make of her dream. They'd never been in the jungle together, hell they'd never been out of Miami together. He thinks back to his memory flashes, he'd been trying to pinpoint where'd they'd been, could they have been in the jungle? He decides not to push her for now, there was no sense trying to force her to remember the dream. "It's okay" he tells her. "Sooner or later it's going to all make sense." He wipes away the last of the tears from her cheek. "How are you feeling?" he asks, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

"Better" she replies honestly.

"Good" now that she'd fully woken up and seemed to have pulled herself out of the dream she did look better. "Feel like getting up and I'll cook you and the kids some dinner?"

She raises an eyebrow at him, "you cook?" she asks sceptically. They'd only ever eaten in the hospital cafeteria.

He can't help but laugh, "Not well. Hmm, on second thought maybe take out might be safer."

She laughs, "I vote pizza. There's a great little place not far from here that delivers. I've been craving pizza."

He climbs up off the bed and holds out his hand to her, "Pizza it is"

She reaches out and takes his hand, for the first time that day he notices she doesn't wince as she moves.

"What do you like on your pizza?" he asks as they approach the living room.

"Hawaiian? Meat Lovers?" she asks.

"Not Hawaiian, I'm..."

"You're allergic to pineapple", she says looking over at him, finishing his sentence.

He looks at her surprised, "How did you know that?"

She shakes her head, "I, we must have talked about it". She can see he's thinking over that possibility, "If you say it's just another coincidence I might just have to kick you out" she says seriously.

"And something tells me that I should take you at your word on that" he looks over at her with raised eyebrows and a smirk plastered across his face.

She hits him playfully in the arm and shakes her head. She goes to the phone and orders the pizza. Any further discussion of how she knew about his allergy was halted. Neither of them had the strength to go there again tonight.

Once they had the kids fed and they'd eaten themselves he'd sent her back to the living room to rest. As much as she insisted she was fine she still looked worn out.

After cleaning up dinner he returned to the living room and found Juliet sitting on the floor playing with the kids. Clem was sitting in her lap and Julian was excitedly chattering away to them.

"Looks like they had other plans for you" he says sitting down next to her on the floor.

"It's alright" she replies, "believe it or not it's sort of refreshing, dare I say it almost normal to sit here and play with them"

"Well, it's never dull" he laughs as he gets hit with a ball that Julian throws to him, trying to get his attention. He gets back up and chases the squealing little boy around the house.

There was never a question of whether he was staying with her during that night. After what she'd gone through the previous night he was as much afraid to leave her alone as she was of being alone.

While he was chasing Julian around she'd gotten Clementine ready for bed and sat in the rocking chair with her. The little girl rested her head against Juliet's chest and snuggled into her. James returned awhile later with a tired looking Julian in his arms.

"Tuckered him out did you?" she smiles.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure who tuckered who out. If this is what I'm in for with Clem I'm in trouble. I can't wait for her to start walking again (the little girl hadn't walked since the accident and they'd been assured by her doctors it was just a matter of time) but, I think I'm too old for this" he laughs.

She laughs at him, "Then we are both too old for this" she says, "'Cause sitting here rocking her has almost put me to sleep too"

"Sad pair we are" he says collapsing on the couch with Julian.

An hour later they had the kids asleep and tucked into bed.

She settles on the couch and he heads to the kitchen returning with the pills Jack had prescribed for her and a glass of water. She gives him a questioning look, "I'm good James I don't need another one"

"Liar" he says calling her bluff for the second time that day. Over the course of the past few hours as the medication had worn off he'd seen her slow down, her movements more stiff as they'd been that morning. "There is no sense in suffering, is there Blondie?"

She tightens her lips together and squints her eyes at him, reaches out and takes the bottle. She pops one of the pills into her mouth and swallows it with the water he hands to her. "If I have more crazy dreams tonight I'm blaming it on you and these" she tosses the bottle back at him and gets up and heads towards the bedroom.

He nods, "Agreed" he says watching her walk down the hallway.

He double checks that the doors are locked, checks on the kids and heads to her bedroom. She's already sound asleep facing away from the door. He climbs into the bed next to her, and wraps his arm around her. He smiles when even though she's sound asleep her hand finds his.

There were no nightmares that night.

His first sensation on waking the next morning was Juliet kissing his hand. He opens his eyes and smiles. Using his free hand he slides the hair off her neck and trails kisses down her neck. She rolls onto her back and his lips find hers. "Good Morning" he mumbles against her.

"Good morning yourself" she mumbles back against him, sliding her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.

Neither heard Julian entering the room. "I up Auntie Juwiet" they hear the little voice say as he approaches the bed.

"Oh", she mumbles against James, surprised by the little voice. "Umm, good morning honey" she says turning her attention from James to Julian as he clamours up onto the bed.

"Mornin' kiddo" James says to Julian. He climbs up off the bed, "Guess I should go check on Clem", he leaves Juliet with Julian.

"So", she says her attention now fully on Julian, "What do you think we should do today?"

"Mommy?" he asks.

"Yup, we'll go see mommy this afternoon but we have the whole morning. Auntie Juliet doesn't have to go to work today"

He smiles at her, "We go see the fishies today?" he asks her.

"Ooh" she says smiling back at him, "that's a great idea, I bet you that Clem and James would love to go and see the fishes"

He climbs excitedly back off the bed, "I go tell Clem we see the fishies" he tells her excitedly.

She can't help but laugh at his excitement. He was a serious child and she knew that Rachael being in the hospital for so long was starting to affect him. He stops in the doorway and turns back to her, "mommy see fishies too?" he asks.

'And here it comes' she thinks to herself seeing the excitement on his face turn to his inquisitive look. "I'm sorry honey" she tells him, "mommy can't come with us today, maybe next time."

She can see him contemplating this, "ok" he finally tells her as he turns back to the door. "I go tell Clem"

It is a few minutes later that James appears back in the doorway. "So what's this I hear about _fishies_?" he asks

"Ah, Julian found you"

He nods, "that he did". He sits back down on the bed with her.

"I asked him what he wanted to do today. His favourite place to go is the aquarium and we haven't been since before Rachael got sick."

"Sounds like fun" he replies. "I don't know if Clem's ever been to the aquarium." He studies her face for a minute, "Sure you are feeling up to it?" he asks.

She places a hand on his, "I'm fine James, I think it'll be good to go and do something different this morning. Something that has nothing to do with the hospital, crazy nightmares, or bloody strange coincidences which make absolutely no sense"

"Alright" he gives in. "You win". He places a hand on her cheek and leans in and kisses her, "I love you Blondie"

She returns the kiss, "I love you back"

Hours later they were at the aquarium. James watches as both kids looked in awe at the fish. Juliet had been right about Julian, the kid was in heaven watching the fish. In all the time he'd spend with the little boy over the past month or so he isn't sure he's ever seen such a big smile plastered across the kids' face.

Juliet had taken Clem over to see the dolphins and Julian had dragged him to the shark tank. "James look, scary sharks" the little boy says excitedly.

"Oh there aren't so scary" James says looking down at him, laughing at the fact his nose is pushed against the glass. He looks into the tank at the sharks swimming around. _He flashes to a different time, its dark and he's somewhere in the ocean floating on a piece of a raft. His shoulder feels like its burning. One glance in the water reveals a shark circling around him. _

His hand instinctively goes to his shoulder, feeling for whatever it was that was causing the burning pain.

"James, let's go see the dowphins now", he little boy grabs his hand.

He shakes his head he's back in the present and sees the shark in the tank. "What the hell" he thinks to himself. He becomes aware of the little boy's hand in his, "What did you say kiddo?" he asks Julian.

"Let's go see Auntie Juwiet and Clem at the dowphins"

"You got it kiddo, lead the way" he tells the little boy.

Julian sneaks up behind Juliet and Clem, "I pwetending to be a shark" he tells James.

Juliet pretends to be frightened when Julian sneaks up behind her, causing the little boy to break out into a fit of giggles.

James grins at her and she grin's back, "Having a good time?" she asks.

"Absolutely" he responds.

"I think this little girl is getting tired, are you two ready to go?" Juliet asks.

He nods his head, "I think we are done. What do you say kiddo, you want to go see your mom now?" he asks Julian.

Julian nods his head and looks up at Juliet, "Mommy?" he asks his face now serious.

"Yes honey, time to see mommy"

They leave the aquarium and head towards the hospital. He's distracted on the drive, thinking about the strange flash he'd had at the aquarium. It just didn't seem to fit with any of the other flashes he'd had or any that Juliet had had.

"What's on your mind?" Juliet asks him, "You are awfully quiet"

"Just thinking" he replies.

She eyes him suspiciously, "You are thinking about the flashes aren't you"

He glances over at her and then back at the road, "You said we weren't talking about that today"

"James"

He pulls up in front of the hospital, "Are you sure you want to take both kids in with you?" he asks, "I could take Clem with me" he avoids the other topic of conversation.

"You can't work and watch her at the same time." She gives him another we'll discuss the other topic of conversation look later, type look.

"Alright" he gives in. He helps her get the kids out of the car and gives Clem a kiss on the cheek, "Be good for Juliet, Baby Girl" he tells her. He gives Juliet a quick kiss, "Call me when you are ready to go"

She nods, "Will do"

He watches as she heads into the hospital with Clem and Julian. He notices that despite her insistence that she was fine, her movements were again slower and stiffer as the day had wore on. He contemplates not leaving and going into the hospital with her, but needed to go to the apartment building and get some work done. The social worker would be making sure he was keeping up with his job as part of his custody agreement. Finally when Juliet and the kids disappear from his view he leaves and heads off to get some work done.


	17. Famous last words

**Chapter 17**

**Famous last words**

Despite the next week passing in a blur they'd fallen into some semblance of a routine. James spent hours each day doing maintenance around the apartment building and Juliet watched the kids. She spent the afternoons at the hospital with Rachael. A couple of the afternoons the kids spent at the day care and the other afternoons they spent in Rachael's room. Juliet loves the time she spends with Julian and has cherished their time together but she'd be lying if she didn't admit how attached she was becoming to Clem and how much she missed her when she wasn't around.

Jack hadn't returned to Miami yet, it was taking longer to manage his father's estate than he'd originally estimated. On that front though, everything had been surprisingly calm. There had been limited 'flashes' and Juliet had recovered from whatever it was that had affected her. She wondered whether it was truly considered a physical recovery when they hadn't been able to prove anything was physically wrong with her or whether she'd just mentally recovered from what ever it was. They were both still frustrated with being unable to figure out what it all meant, but they'd been so busy with every day life that it just didn't seem all that important either.

This particular afternoon Juliet stops at James apartment after leaving the hospital. She lets herself and the kids into the apartment to wait for him to finish work.

James enters the apartment and finds Juliet hanging out on the floor playing with the children.

"Hey" she says turning when he entered. She doesn't miss the dimpled grin on his face. "What's up?" she asks.

He walks over and leans down kissing her, "Hey back". She notes the grin doesn't leave his face.

"So" she says, "Are you going to tell me the reason for that smile?"

He sits down on the couch, "I got another job today".

"What?" she asks surprised. "Where?"

"Joe, the landlord, his brother owns a mall. Joe's been impressed with what I've been doing around here and told his brother I was looking for something a little steadier. Seems there is an opening in the mall for a security guy. It's got its downfalls, its shift work. I'll have to come up with a plan for Clem when I'm working nights. But Jules, I never thought I'd ever get to do something like this, me working security, I know it's only a mall but damn!"

She'd gotten up off the floor and moved over beside him on the couch. "First things first, congratulations you are going to do great". She places her hand over his. "Second, you never have to worry about finding someone to look after Clem." She glances down at Clem playing on the floor, "I love that little girl and she always has a place with me."

He looks her in the eyes, so thankful to have her in his life. "Thank you Blondie. I don't know that I could have done _any_ of this without you"

She wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You're very welcome." She pulls back slightly, still keeping her arms around his neck. "I've got a bit of news of my own"

"And?" he asks.

"And . . . Rachael is coming home tomorrow."

His grin gets bigger if that was even possible. He knows how much this means to Juliet and to Rachael. Neither thought this day would ever come. He pulls her into his lap and kisses her tenderly, "That's great Jules."

She pulls back from him slightly, "So I think we need to celebrate" she tells him.

"You do" he says grinning at her "Any ideas?" he asks, winking at her. Of course he had a few ideas of his own.

"Well, as a matter of fact _I do_ have some ideas" she says with her own wink.

"Do tell"

"Well, on the way over here I called Kate and she and Tom are willing to watch the kids for a few hours tonight. Thought it was high time that you _finally_ took me out to dinner" she smirks at him.

"Dinner, huh?"

"Yes dinner" she says with a smirk. "Were you thinking I was going to suggest something else?"

"Of course not, dinner was _totally_ what I was thinking about."

"Yeah right" she leans in and kisses him again.

"Auntie Juwiet . . . James" they hear Julian call out to them. "Look"

They both look towards where the children were playing to see Clem pulling her self up to a standing position using a nearby chair to support her self. They watch quietly as she turns towards Julian, hanging onto the chair with just one hand.

"Come on Baby Girl", James says to her "you can do it." He stretches out his hand and the little girl takes a step away from the chair.

They'd learned from Clem's records that she'd actually started walking at about ten months old. After the accident she wasn't walking anymore and the doctors weren't sure if it was due to the bleed she'd had in her brain or whether it was just because of the stress of everything she'd been through. Since her release from the hospital she'd thus far made no attempts to move around on her own. In some ways her not walking made it easier to look after her but both James and Juliet couldn't wait for her to get over this hurdle.

Juliet slides off James lap and both of them turn their attention to the little girl, cheering her on.

Clem takes a tentative step away from the chair, her fingers barely touching it. She looks at the floor and they both think that she's going to sit but instead she stretches her hand further out towards James and starts to walk towards him. As she gets closer to him she starts giggling and is in a full out laugh when she reaches his waiting arms. He scoops her up and hugs her tightly. "I knew you could do it Baby Girl"

Juliet runs her fingers through the little girls curly mop of hair, "Yeah, good job sweetheart" she says kissing the little girl on the cheek.

James wasn't sure he'd ever felt as proud as he did at that moment. He'd stubbornly missed out on all the little girl's firsts by not being involved in her life. Now he had a second chance and he wasn't going to miss anything else.

A few hours later they'd dropped the kids off at Kate and Tom's and gone back to Juliet's so that she could get ready to go out to dinner. James sits on the bed to wait for Juliet to emerge from the bathroom.

When she finally comes out she's dressed in a knee length red cocktail dress. He lets out a low whistle and eyes her up and down. While he'd seen her dressed up for work he'd never seen her dressed like this. He gets up off the bed and approaches her "wow" he says to her, "you look amazing Jules"

"Thank you, I", she blushes, "Rachael talked me into buying this months ago. It's not something I'd ever pick out myself"

He grins at her, "Well I guess I owe your sister a thank you". He steps closer to so they are just touching and he dips his head and kisses her. She drapes her arms around his neck and deepens the kiss. Seems like forever before they finally come up for air, but when they do he pulls back just slightly from her, "Damn woman" he says to her, "if we don't leave now we ain't going"

She slides her fingers to the bottom of his shirt, unbuttoning the last few buttons and looks up into his eyes, "I don't care if you don't"

It was the only invitation he needed. His mouth finds hers again. His hands move to her back and he fumbles with the zipper of her dress as she fumbles with the buttons on his shirt and then the button on his pants. They make their way to the bed and he lays her down.

Later they are lying tangled in the bed together, her head on his chest, they'd been like this for quite some time. He runs his hand down her hair and she props herself up so she's looking at him, a smile on her face. "Hey"

"Hey yourself" he smiles back at her, trails his fingers down her cheek and tucks her hair behind her ear. "It's getting late" he tells her. "If we want to go get something to eat before we have to pick up the kids we should get up"

She leans her head back contemplating his suggestion. "Alright" she says her eyes meeting his again, "if you insist"

He laughs, "Well I ain't insisting anything Blondie, I'm quite content to say right here"

"Nah, you're right. We should get going" she replies not very convincingly.

"You could work a little harder at sounding like you agree with me Blondie," he kisses her one last time and rolls over, getting out of the bed.

She rolls her eyes at him, "What you didn't believe me?"

He smirks at her, "Not one bit"

An hour later they are dressed for the second time that evening and finally make it out of the house to the restaurant.

They had just finished dinner when Juliet's cell phone rang. Glancing at the number she sees its Kate. "Hey Kate, what's up?" she asks.

"Sorry to bother you Jules, but Clem's pretty upset and I can't seem to get her to settle"

"Oh" Juliet replies surprised, "that's strange. She hasn't been like that in weeks."

James gives Juliet a what's up look, figuring the conversation was about Clem.

"We are just leaving the restaurant Kate we'll be there shortly to pick them up."

"You don't have to rush Juliet, I just wondered if there was something up with her today"

"She's been fine all day. Don't worry about it Kate, we were just leaving anyways. See you in a bit." They say their goodbyes and she hangs up her phone.

"What's wrong with Clem?" James asks, concerned.

She shakes her head, "Not sure, Kate said she's been upset and she can't get her to settle."

James pays the bill and they head back to Kate and Toms to pick up the kids. Kate meets them at the door with a crying Clem.

"Baby Girl", James says taking her from Kate, "What's up munch kin?" he asks the little girl, carrying her into the house. Clem lays her head on James' shoulder and her sobs turn to hiccups as she starts to settle.

"Not sure", Kate says. "She was fine for the first hour or so and she's been like this on and off since."

"Strange", Juliet says rubbing the little girls back. "Maybe just the different environment?" she says looking at James shrugging her shoulders.

Before James can respond, Julian comes running to the room followed by Tom. "Auntie Juwiet, Clem was sad. I told her you and James would come back but she wouldn't stop crying" he tells her.

"So I see honey, but she's okay now. That was nice of you to try and help." Julian runs off to play again, leaving them to talk. "A few more minutes Julian", she calls after him, "then we need to go home".

More settled Clem holds out her arms to Juliet, and she takes her from James. "What's up sweetheart?" she asks the little girl, kissing her forehead. "She feels a little warm, maybe she's coming down with something?"

James looks at her concerned, "You think?"

"Well it would explain her strange behaviour tonight. It's not like she hasn't spent time with Kate before." Clem lays her head on Juliet's shoulder, snuggling into her and closes her eyes. She sees the worry on James face, "Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine"

Tom looks to Kate, "Are you going to ask them?" he asks her.

She nods and both Juliet and James look expectantly at her. "Ask us what?" Juliet asks.

"I . . . umm, the doctor that operated on Rachael. The one from L.A., Jack Shephard, I've been having the craziest dreams." She looks at Tom who nods his head. "I feel like I know him, which is crazy because I've never met him and I only know about him because I've heard Juliet talk about him. And you James, I know you said that we were likely on the same flight home from Sydney but I just can't shake it, there's something else, somewhere else that I know you from."

James and Juliet look at each other and then back at Kate, "We know exactly what you are talking about" she tells her. She takes a few moments to explain to Kate about the strange memory flashes that they'd both experienced in the beginning of their relationship and goes on to explain what has happened since then. "The day that you came over to watch the kids, the day I had the flu", Kate nods her head and Juliet continues, "I didn't actually have the flu."

Kate looks at her confused.

"I woke up that morning with the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. Only there was no reasonable explanation for it. When James took me to the hospital, we went and saw Jack because he's had the same kind of weird dreams and memory flashes that both James and I had had. Anyways, Jack could find no reasonable explanation either and ran a bunch of tests. The strangest thing is that on my MRI I have numerous healed broken bones and other injuries that I have absolutely no explanation for."

"That makes no sense Juliet I've known you for years. You've never had injuries that would explain those test results", Tom chimes in.

She nods, "I know Tom. But not a lot of this doesn't make sense and neither James, myself or Jack have been able to come up with a reasonable explanation. The only real connection we've come up wtih is that Jack, Kate and James were all on the same flight from Sydney. But that doesn't explain the connection between James and me and it doesn't account for what we knew about each other that we really shouldn't have known. . "

She sees the look of disbelief on both Tom and Kate's face. "I'm sorry you two, I'd love to be able give you all the answers but I just can't, not yet anyways."

"I need to meet Jack" Kate tells them.

"He's back in L.A. right now", says James. "He should be back any day now. He wants to figure this out as much as we do."

"For what it's worth Kate, neither of us has had any memory flashes or dreams in over a week. Maybe it's over?"

"You really believe that?" Kate asks her in disbelief.

Juliet shrugs her shoulders, "No, I _guess_ not!"

There was really no point in any further discussion. Until Jack came back and Kate was able to meet him they were stuck. They pack up the kids, with promises to discuss it further when Jack was back. Leaving Kate and Toms they head back to James apartment for the night.

Juliet got Julian settled to sleep and comes back to the living room to find Clem still awake in James arms. "Mine's asleep" she jokes with him.

He shakes his head, "She's not giving in tonight"

Juliet walks over to them and places her fingers against Clem's forehead, "She doesn't feel warm anymore. I'd hate to think she was coming down with something."

He nods, "With Rachael coming home tomorrow, we can't take any chances"

"I know, that's my worry. Rach just finished her chemo, she has no immune system right now", she sits down on the couch beside them and rubs Clem's back.

"I've been thinking and I think it's a bad idea for Clem and me to go to Albuquerque. I don't want to to leave you right now and with Kate having strange memories too . . . it's just bad timing."

She shakes her head, "You have to go James. Cassidy's memorial service is in two days. It has been postponed long enough already waiting for Clem to be well enough to go"

"She's not gonna remember being there Juliet. And I'm not going for me; Cassidy and I were done a long time ago. I arranged for the service and the burial and dealt with her estate because there was no one else. I've done more than I needed too for her."

"True Clem won't remember, but you'll be able to tell her she was there. Plus, all Cassidy's friends will be looking forward to seeing Clem, knowing that she is alright and having a chance to say goodbye to her"

"I just have an uneasy feeling about leaving right now."

"It's only for a couple days James. What if I come with you?"

"I want you to come more than you know, but you can't come Julie, not now that Rachael is coming home. She need's you"

She knew he was right, but it didn't help the fact that she needed him as much as he needed her. "You're right", there was no sense debating it further, she couldn't go because Rachael needed her and they couldn't postpone the memorial service again. "It's two days", seh finally says, "and hopefully by the time you get back Jack will be here too and once and for all we can finally sort this out"

"Two days" he says putting his hand over hers. "What could happen in two days?"

She looks into his eyes and shakes her head, "Famous last words James. . . "


	18. It all happened

**Chapter 18**

**It all happened**

The night was blissfully uneventful. Whatever had been bothering Clem seemed to have subsided once they got her home. Maybe she really did just miss them and it was as simple as that. Life could be simple once in awhile, right?

The next morning they went back to Juliet's house to get things ready to bring Rachel home. Julian was bouncing off the wall with excitement over the fact that his mom was finally coming home.

James had called the airline and postponed his flight from that evening till the next morning. He'd changed him mind and was only going to spend one day in Albuquerque instead of two. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he had about leaving. He knew he had to go but he wasn't going to spend any unnecessary time away. They'd arrive in time for the memorial service and leave directly after it.

By lunchtime they had Rachael home from the hospital and settled on the couch to rest. While she'd mostly recovered from surgery, the chemo had wiped her of most of her energy. James took the kids to the park to run off some energy and so Rachael could have a chance to rest.

"You need anything?" Juliet asks Rachael for about the twentieth time since they'd come home. "Do you want me to help you to your room so you can rest?

"I'm fine Juliet" Rachael says slightly annoyed. "I've been _resting_ for the past 7 months, I want to start living again. Would you just sit and relax, you don't have to fuss over me."

"I'm sorry", Juliet says, knowing full well she was being a pain in the ass. She climbs into the chair and pulls her legs under her. "I'm just, it's been", she stumbles over what she wants to say. "I just want you to be comfortable"

"And I am Jules and I'm thrilled to be home. But you don't have to do everything for me. I need to start doing things for myself again"

"Fine" Juliet says stubbornly, "But I reserve the right to continue to hover at least for the first few days"

Rachael laughs, "You drive a pretty hard bargain sis"

"Yeah, well . . . it's my right as your sister"

Juliet hears the beep of the dryer, "I'll be right back" she'd told James she'd get some stuff ready for Clem to go to Albuquerque. She empties the dryer into the laundry basket and carries it to the living room and sits back down.

"You really have fallen for him haven't you", Rachael says as she watches her fold Clem's clothes.

Juliet hugs the little girls' sleeper to her chest and nods her head, "more than I have ever let myself fall before Rach" of course they'd had this discussion before and Rachael had seen them together when they' visited with her but for some reason Rachael found this was different. Is wasn't like Juliet hadn't told Rachael just how close her and James had gotten but seeing it here, outside of the hospital made it all that more real for her. The Juliet that Rachael was seeing now was one she never thought she'd see, truly in love with someone that deeply loved her back.

"You can go with him you know". She'd overheard Juliet and James discussing the trip, "We can ask Kate to come stay here with Julian and I overnight while you are gone"

She shakes her head, "I'm not leaving you. Not on your second day home."

"You've waited your whole life for love like this Juliet. Go with him"

She contemplates Rachael's words, "I'll think about it, that's the best I'm offering right now"

"You're stubborn Jules"

"Yeah well, so are you Rach"

They are interrupted by James and the children returning. Clem's asleep in James arms. "My plan worked on one, not both" he laughs watching Julian bounce excitedly around the room finally ending up on the couch beside his mother. Rachael pulls the little boy into her arms.

Juliet gets up out of the chair and goes over to James, "I'll go put her down, the clothes are ready for you"

He hands her the sleeping child and Juliet disappears from the living room, "Guess that means she isn't going to pack too" he says jokingly to Rachael as he follows Juliet out of the living room.

Juliet lays Clem in the crib and quietly leaves the room. She finds James in the bedroom putting clothes into the suitcase. She sits down on the edge of the bed, "Rachel wants me to go with you. She doesn't want me to stay home because of her."

He sits down on the bed next to her, "what do you want to do?" he asks.

She shrugs her shoulders, "I want to be with you but I don't want to leave her"

He wraps an arm around her shoulder and kisses the side of her forehead, "Either way I'm good with your decision Blondie. Think about it, if you decide you are coming we can still get you a ticket"

The remainder of the day is uneventful.

Juliet rolls over to put her arm around James and finds his side of the bed empty. Glancing at the clock she sees it is just after two am. She climbs out of bed and heads to the living room and finds him in the rocking chair with Clem in his arms.

"She's not sleeping?" she asks approaching them.

He shakes his head, "every time I try to put her down she starts to cry. I don't want her to wake up Rachael or Julian."

"Why don't you let me take her, you go get a few hours of sleep"

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"I'm sure" she holds out her arms and he passes her the little girl and switches spots with her. "Besides, I've had lots of practice with these little people who don't like to sleep at night lately"

He laughs, "Right . . . Julian" over the past week he'd learned just how much the little boy got up during the night.

"Shh", she says, "Let's not jinx it, he'll be the next one up"

He leans down and kisses her, "Thanks, I owe you one"

"Goodnight James" she says shooing him off to bed.

She runs her fingers through Clem's hair, "So little missy, what is up with you tonight?"

Clem looks up at her briefly and then lays her head back down against Juliet. An hour later they are both sleeping soundly in the rocking chair. Awhile later she wakes with a start, she'd been dreaming again. She exhales deeply, the dream whatever it was had been disturbing. It wasn't like the other dreams where she'd felt like she was falling, this time she'd had the sensation of being trapped. She feels the weight of Clem in her arms, looking down she realizes the little girl hadn't woken up when she'd startled herself awake. She carefully gets up and takes her into her room and successfully transfers her into the crib. She covers her up, and quietly checks on Julian and sneaks out of the room.

She carefully climbs into bed with James, trying not to wake him. He rolls over anyways, "You finally got her in the crib?" he asks groggily as he pulls her into his arms.

"Yup, go back to sleep James", she whispers. He nods his head and drifts back off to sleep.

She slides her hand into his and closes her eyes. The dream flashes continue. . . _She's standing in the middle of a grassy clearing which is surrounded by a bunch of small yellow houses. Looking up at the sky she sees a plane breaking apart. Then she's in another clearing looking down at the dead body of a man and she hears a voice 'after everything I did to get you here, after everything I've done to keep you here, how could you possibly not understand . . . you're mine'_

She sits up with a gasp, fighting off a sense of panic.

James wakes up when she pulls from his arms, "Juliet?" he asks sitting up as well, suddenly wide awake. She's trembling and he pulls her into his arms. "I've got you Jules, it's just a dream it's not real"

It takes her a moment to slow her breathing and she turns to look at him, "James", she whispers, "Oh. God." the panic momentarily overwhelms her again and she feels like she can't catch her breath "I think that it was . . . that it is."

He tightens his grasp around her trying to stop her from trembling and shakes his head, "it's not possible Jules"

She closes her eyes and tries to slow her breathing, "I saw a plane fall apart in the sky" she whispers as she opens her eyes and looks into his, "I think you were on it"

"Juliet", he cups her cheeks in his hands, "baby I love you but it was a dream, it wasn't real"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I ain't ever been in a plane crash Blondie" his voice is low.

"And I've never broken all the bones that my MRI says that I have" she says seriously.

He contemplates her words, but there was just no way it was real. "Was there more than just the plane crash?"

She nods her head, he'd been afraid she'd do that, "What?" he asks.

"The last time I had these dreams I felt like I was falling. This time I felt trapped"

"Trapped like how?" he asks confused.

"Trapped like I was stuck somewhere", she takes a second to fully remember the dream, "there was this man and we were out in the jungle"

'The damn jungle of mystery again' he thinks to himself as she talks, "Go on"

"He told me that everything he'd done to get me there, to keep me there was because I was his"

'Damn' he thinks to himself, 'not an ounce of this makes sense' "Did you recognize him?"

She shakes her head, "No".

He moves his hand to the back of her neck, massaging her back and shoulders. He could feel the knots of tension and she arches back into his hands. He thinks over everything she's told him.

"You still think that I'm just dreaming don't you?" she says a little more defensively than she means too.

"Jules you are stressed out. Between Rachael coming home and Clem and I leaving for Albuquerque. I think the dreams might just be a product of the stress. Think about it, any time either of us has had the flashes or the dreams we've been incredibly stressed."

She pulls away from him and climbs out of the bed and walks across the room.

"Wait" he says climbing out of the bed and following her.

"Don't" she says pulling away when he reaches out and touches her arm.

He's completely baffled by her response, "Juliet", he watches as she puts her hands to her head.

She doesn't hear him, the headache overwhelms her quickly and the flashes were more intense than they'd ever been. She squishes her eyes closed to try and block out the intense pain and light. _'And you would stay with me forever . . . Maybe we were never supposed to be together'._

The two worlds collide quickly and fiercely for her, memories from separate but very real realities merge into one. The island, James, Jack, Kate, the others it all comes flooding back.

"Juliet", he places his hand on back as she puts her hand to her head. Shifting position slightly he can see that he eyes are shut the look on her face was unlike anything he'd seen before, a combination of pain and confusion.

"Julie . . . . ", he says her name again, willing her to snap out of wherever she'd gone too. When he feels her start to go limp in his arms he pulls her tighter to him, "shit" he curses under his breath. Lifting her up into his arms he carries her over to the bed, "come on Juliet please open up your eyes for me"

"James" she finally chokes out.

"I'm right here" he tells her, tightening the grip on her hand, he feels like an ass, like he's pushed to her to whatever is happening to her right now.

She opens her eyes slightly and wants nothing but to slam them shut again, her head was still aching like it never had before. She tries to focus her gaze on him and her fingers go to her temples as she tries to press out the pain. "James . . . it's. . . it's all real", it comes out disjointed, like she's trying to catch her breath, "Oh. God. Oh. God, it all happened. . the island, the bomb, I remember everything" it comes out as a sob and the tears flow from her eyes.

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing! My goal is to hit 100 before the end, can you help me get there??**


	19. When fate intervenes

**Chapter 19**

_**Most believe that's what done is done, that you cannot change fate. Those who challenge what is destined will always be met with disappointment for fate has a way of charting its own course. But before one surrenders to the hands of destiny, one might consider the power of the human spirit and the force that lies in one's own free will! (From LOST: The Final Chapter)**_

**When fate intervenes . . . **

She opens her eyes slightly and wants nothing but to slam them shut again, her head was hurting like it never had before. She tries to focus her gaze on him and her fingers go to her temples as she tries to press out the pain_. "James, it's all real",_ it comes out disjointed, like she's trying to catch her breath, _"Oh. God. Oh. God, it all happened. .The island . . . the bomb . . ., I remember everything"_ it comes out as a sob and the tears flow from her eyes.

He watches her with shock and disbelief unsure of what to make of what she was experiencing. _"Juliet?"_ he tries to get her to look at him, "_Honey_, I don't _understand_"

The pain in her head seemed to be steadily increasing instead of decreasing as the memories surged back. As the pain increases she feels nauseated and before responding to James she darts from the bed towards the bathroom, dropping to the floor in front of the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach. He's closely on her heels, "Shit, what the hell" he says dropping to the floor beside her, helplessly watching her go through whatever the hell it was she was going through.

She's leaning her head against the toilet, "James" she croaks out, her voice hoarse.

"I'm right here Juliet" he slides her hair to the side and places a hand behind her neck.

She lifts her head and tries to focus her gaze on him. She needs to tell him what she remembered, but she wasn't able to concentrate on anything other than the pain in her head, "_Sonofabitch_ . . . . my head hurts" she shuts her eyes again.

He notices a trickle of blood from her nose, "Juliet" his stress evident in his voice. He grabs for a towel and wipes away the trickle of blood.

The commotion in Juliet's room had woken Rachael, it was just after dawn and the sun was coming up. She makes her way down the hall, the bedroom door was open and she can see them both on the bathroom floor. "What's wrong?" Rachael asks concerned with the scene in front of her.

James looks up at Rachael and shrugs his shoulder, "I don't know", at a loss for what was happening. He quickly tells her what he does know which unfortunately didn't account to much. Juliet hadn't been coherent long enough to explain what she had meant when she said she remembered. He turns his attention back to Juliet when she quickly turns back towards the toilet retching again, "James, I don't feel well" it comes out as a gasp.

His heart is pounding, 'shit' he thinks to himself for like the twentieth time in the past hour. "I know Jules" he says placing his hand on the back of her neck again trying to comfort her in whatever way he could.

He looks over at Rachael, "God Rach, I hate to even ask you but I need you to stay with the kids"

She nods her head, "Just take care of her, I'll call Kate . . . "

He returns his attention to Juliet, wetting a cloth he puts it against her forehead and picks her up in his arms. "We're gonna fix this Blondie", not that he was sure how the hell he was going to fix it but he needed to try to comfort her somehow. He carries her from the house and carefully gets her situated in the car and speeds towards the hospital.

She cringes at every bump he hits on the drive. She keeps her eyes closed and pulls the cloth over them. The light from the sun felt like it was burning through her eyelids. "Miles and Jin are coming for dinner tonight"

He momentarily glances away from the road and over at her, "Jules? Who are Miles and Jin?" he asks.

"The alternator went on Van four again I think I'm going to be at the motor pool late tonight. Horace just needs to break down and replace that thing. One of these days I'm not going to be able to fix it", she continues talking and he can't make sense of what she's telling him.

He pulls into the hospital's emergency parking. Glancing up he sees Tom standing in the doorway with a stretcher. Rachael must have called ahead. He'd have to remember to kiss her later. "Tom" he calls climbing out of the vehicle.

Minutes later they are wheeling Juliet into the emergency room, "God", he runs his hands through his hair, "I don't know what's wrong with her man. She was delusional on the drive over here"

"James, Rachael called ahead. We are ready for her. They are waiting in the CT suite for us", Tom tells him as they enter into an exam room.

James is pushed aside as a group of nurses and Tom start assessing her. She barely flinches when the nurse inserts an IV into her arm and others attach her to monitors. And then they were gone. . .

He watches helplessly as they wheel her from the room, frustrated and feeling as though he had caused this he slams his fist against the door jam on the way out, "Sonofabitch" he shakes his hand.

"You okay?" the nurse asks seeing him shaking his hand.

"Yeah" it comes out not so convincingly.

"You cut your hand" she grabs some gauze pads and presses them to his hand. "Looks like you are going to need some stitches" she says after examining his hand. She wiggles around his fingers, "Don't think you broke anything though"

"Just freaking great" he curses under his breath, glancing down at the blood soaking through the gauze pad. "It can wait" he grumbles.

"I. . we can deal with it before they bring Dr. Burke back"

"I said it can wait" he says a little more forcefully this time.

She backs off, "suit yourself" she says walking away from him.

It's only a few minutes later that Tom returns with Juliet, they wheel her back into the room and hook her back up to the monitors. "Tom?"

He shakes his head, "Nothing on the scan to help us. I can't find anything wrong with her. She woke up briefly downstairs. I've given her a sedative and something to help her with the pain. She did managed to tell me that the pain in her head was unbearable"

It should have relieved him, but it didn't. "Did she say anything else?" he asks.

He shakes his head, "Nope, she was pretty disoriented, the only thing I was able to get from her was that her head hurt and she wasn't sure why.

"What now?" he was afraid to ask.

"We wait for her to wake up hopefully the headache passes by then"

"Hopefully" he says under his breath. The nurses had moved away from Juliet's bedside and he approaches her. The nosebleed had stopped and the nurses had cleaned her up as well as they could. He sits on the stool next to her bed and picks up her hand, gently kissing it. "Sleep Blondie, we'll figure this all out when you wake up" she at least looked like she was comfortable now. The look of pain and distress on her face was gone.

"What did you do to your hand?" Tom motions to the blood soaked gauze.

"The door bit me" he replies sarcastically.

Tom lifts the gauze and examines the cuts on his hand. "Looks like you need stitches"

"Yeah, the nurse mentioned that"

Tom disappears for a few minutes and returns with what he needs to stitch up James' hand.

"This might sting a bit" Tom says injecting some freezing around the cuts.

"I've had stitches before" he doesn't turn to look at him, choosing instead to maintain his focus on Juliet.

A few minutes later, "All done", Tom says finishing the last stitch. He wraps up the hand in a bandage. "They can come out in seven to ten days"

James nods his head, "I'm sure Juliet can take them out for me"

Tom nods and steps away for a few moments. When he returns he stands and watches James for a few minute and then comes to the side of the bed. "I have to know", he says. "This is related to the dreams?", it was a statement as much as a question.

James lifts his eyes from Juliet to Tom and nods his head, "I think so"

Tom looks down at Juliet, "Is this going to happen to my wife?"

"I wish I knew man" he says honestly. He tightens his grip on her hand, "Juliet remembered something tonight. She is sure that all of it's true but the headache was keeping her from telling me what she meant." He'd gone over her words a million times in the past few hours, "the island, the bomb" but he hadn't a clue what the hell it meant.

"James" they both turn and see Rachael in the doorway.

He gets up off the stool, "Rach, what are you doing here?" it comes out a little harsher than he meant it too, but the emergency room was not the safest environment for someone that just finished chemo. "I'm sorry" he says apologizing for his tone, "It's just . . . Juliet will kick my ass if I let you get sick"

She laughs, "I see she treats you like she does me"

He can't help but laugh, "Yeah" he glances down at her, "She's drilled into my head the importance of keeping you away from any types of infection"

"Yeah well, I'll deal with her when she wakes up, but in the meantime I'm staying. Kate's dropping the kids off at the daycare. She'll be down in a bit"

He nods his head and gestures towards the stool so Rachael could sit. For some reason she didn't look nearly as fragile as she has for the past few weeks.

"What do we do now?" Rachael asks, sitting next to her sister.

"We wait for her to wake up", James says stepping behind Rachael, filling her in on what they knew.

"I called Cassidy's friend in Albuquerque and told her that you and Clem weren't going to make it today and cancelled your flight"

"Shit, I forgot all about it. Thank you"

"You've had other things on your mind this morning"

"Yeah well, thank Jules when she wakes up. She had your back, the number was by the phone"

"What did you just say?" he asks. _'You still got my back? Absolutely'_

"The number was by the phone?" she turns and looks at him.

"Before that" he urges.

"I said Jules had you back"

'_Do you still have my back?' 'Do you still have mine?' _Her voice echo's through his head. He turns away from Rachael and walks over to the wall, hitting both hands against it in frustration. His stitched hand burns with pain but he didn't care.

"James", Rachael turns to look at him. "What is it?"

He ignores Rachael's question and walks over to Juliet and leans down and kisses her forehead and picks up her hand, "Come on baby, I know that I told you to sleep but I need you to wake up. I need you to help me figure this out; I know that the answer is in that pretty head of yours."

"It's all because of the island"

James and Rachael both turn to the sound of Kate's voice.

"What do you mean Kate?"

"The dreams, it's the island." She gestures towards Juliet, "I don't know how I know, I can't explain it, but . . ."

"Dammit Kate, just spit it out", James says frustrated.

"Sawyer. . . "

He gives her a funny look, "How the hell?"

"Sawyer, the island . . . Juliet died"

He sinks into the chair beside Juliet . . . and slides his hand back around hers. He needed to touch her, to feel her, to know that she was still here. Feeling the steady beat of her pulse under his fingers he leans his head down against her and closes his eyes.

"_Where do you think your going Blondie? Hold on, hold on"_

"_I love you"_

"_No, don't you let go"_

"_I can't, I can't get it off."_

"_I've got you, hold on I've got you"_

"_I love you James, I love you so much"_

"_No"_

"_It's okay"_

"_Don't you leave me"_

_***_

**_And there we have Chapter 19 ;). Thanks for the reviews. . you've almost got me to 100! _I think this might actually make 21 chapters.**


	20. 1977

**Chapter **

**1977**

Rachael watches James sink down beside Juliet. She turns and faces Kate, "What the hell are you talking about? Juliet didn't die"

Tom looks at his wife, "Kate?"

Kate shakes her head, "I. . . ", she stammers, "I've had flashes all morning, bits and pieces of _'memories'_ none of them fit together except for what I remembered about Juliet"

Tom watches the scene unfolding in front of him in disbelief. He finally approaches Kate, "What island Kate?" he asks calmly. "This is ridiculous we've been together our entire lives."

James lifts his head and looks over at Kate and Tom, there are tears in his eyes and he makes no attempt to hide them. They were just flashes, bits and pieces of a life he'd shared with Juliet. Nothing that made sense . . . nothing that explained it. Nothing except the worst feeling of loss he'd experienced since the night his parents died. The night of Rachael's surgery he'd actually joked with Juliet that maybe they'd met each other in another life, because there had to be a reason that they knew the things they knew about each other. But they'd joked that things like that didn't happen in the real world. . _'Was it possible?'_

Kate looks James in the eye. She sees the same sadness there that she'd seen in her flashes and she isn't sure what to say, "I'm sorry James. . . ."

"Yeah, you _already_ said that" he shakes his head at her and turns his attention back to Juliet.

Kate's eyes blurred with tears, "I shouldn't have . . . "

"No Kate, you're right. You shouldn't have", Rachael says shaking her head at Kate.

Tom touches Kate's arm and nods his head towards the door. "Let's go outside"

Kate allows Tom to lead her out of Juliet's room. "Kate you have got to help me out here" he says to her when they are outside of the room. "This makes no sense. You need to explain to me how you can have memories from a life that doesn't exist?"

"I . . . Tom .... I don't even know how to explain it. The memories they are just bits and pieces of things that I know happened. Sawyer", she shakes her head, "James, he went by Sawyer when I first met him. And Jack . . . Juliet, I knew them before"

"How can you remember something that didn't happen Kate?" he asks again. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Please Kate, I'm trying to understand this"

"Because it _did happen_ Tom."

He shakes his head this was all getting to be too much. "Kate you know that I love you, but things like this, they don't happen . . . it's just not possible"

She pulls away from him and shakes her head, "I can't do this right now Tom".

He reaches out for her, "Kate. . "

She puts her hands up, "No Tom, I can't . .". She turns and leaves the emergency department. Getting close to the hospital exit she runs from the doors, once outside she bends down putting her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. She needed to remember all of it, she needed to understand it in order to help Tom understand it, and maybe just maybe if she remembered she could help Juliet this time.

"You okay Miss?" she hears a familiar voice and slowly raises herself back standing, "Jack?"

** Back inside the hospital **

Having gotten no answer from Kate, Rachael tries James. "What did she mean James? What did she mean by saying that Juliet died?"

He takes a deep breath "I don't know all of it. I only know that Kate's right" he starts. "Juliet needs to wake up, I think right now she's the only one that has all the answers, she'll be able to fill in the pieces", he picks up her hand again, needing to feel the warmth of her skin. He starts to spill out the bits and pieces of what he remembered to Rachael.

Rachael listens to him with an open mind but there were so many gaps in his memories that the full scope of what he was saying was difficult to grasp.

"She's going to wake up James, isn't she?"

"She's got too Rachael. I may not _'remember'_ much, but I remember losing her and the feeling of not caring if I lived anymore"

They are interrupted by a nurse popping her head into the room. "I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Ford, but they called down from upstairs and your daughter is upset and they can't seem to get her settled. They are wondering if you could possibly go up"

He glances down at Juliet, he didn't want to leave her.

"James, I'll go upstairs" Rachael tells him, "You stay with Juliet"

He shakes his head, "I should go. The past few days Clem's been having trouble again. . . ", he doesn't elaborate and doesn't need to, Rachael understood.

"I'll stay with Juliet" she tells him.

"Thanks Rachael", he kisses Juliet on the forehead. "I'll be right back Blondie"

He arrives upstairs at the daycare and can hear Clem crying before he reaches the door. He wondered why suddenly the little girl was struggling with being separated from them again. He knew it wasn't just him, but Juliet as well. The little girl had become as attached to her as he'd become. She'd been doing so well he figured that all her separation anxiety had disappeared. Obviously he'd thought wrong. The stressed daycare worker meets him at the door, and passes Clem off to him.

"Good morning sweetheart" he says to the little girl as he walks her up and down the hallway trying to settle her. Holding her relieved some of the tension he'd been feeling, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you woke up this morning" he tells her.

"Go?" she points to the elevator.

"You don't want to play today?" he asks her.

She shakes her head and lays her head on his shoulder. "Guess that means you are hanging out with Dad for awhile". He rubs her back and continues to walk the hall with her.

Downstairs Juliet had begun fighting through the effects of the sedative.

Hearing Juliet moaning, Rachael reaches forward and touches her cheek.

"Hey sis", she says softly, "Are you thinking about waking up today? There are lots of people here with questions for you. I have to admit I have a few of my own."

Juliet moans in response, without opening her eyes she moves her hand to her head.

Tom had come into the room just as Juliet had started shifting around in the bed. "She starting to wake up?"

Rachael nods, "I think so. She hasn't said anything yet but I think her head still hurts, she was moaning"

"Juliet", Tom says approaching the bedside. He glances up at the monitors and sees her heart rate was jumping back up again. "Juliet its Tom, can you open your eyes for me?"

Rachael stands up, "I should go get James if she's waking up he'll want to be here"

Tom nods his head, "I think that is probably a good idea"

"I'll be right back Jules, I'm gonna go find James for you". Rachael heads off to find James.

Juliet wins the battle to open her eyes and glances around the room disoriented. "Where am I?" she asks, her voice hoarse.

"You're at the hospital Juliet", Tom tells her, noticing the look of confusion on her face.

The bright lights in the room bother her eyes, her head was still aching like a son of a bitch and she moves her hands up to shield her eyes.

Tom flips off the overhead light about Juliet's head, seeing the light was bothering her eyes. "Welcome back"

She looks at Tom confused. "Are you new?" she asks. "Amy mentioned that a new doctor was coming on the sub."

"Juliet? It's Tom, you are at the hospital" he tells her.

"This doesn't look like the infirmary"

He wonders if the combination of the sedative and pain killer had just confused her. "Juliet" he decides to try a different tactic. "What year is it Juliet?"

She tries to focus her gaze on him. "It's 1977"

He shakes his head, "Where are you Juliet?"

"The island" she says wondering what the hell was up with this doctor. "The Dharma Initiative, but this doesn't look like the infirmary"

"What the hell" he says under his breath. He debates trying to reorient her, clearly wherever she was right now, it wasn't Miami, in 2004. "How's your head Juliet?" he asks.

"It still hurts".

"I'm going to get you some medication to help you" he tells her walking towards the door.

He meets James and Rachael at the doorway. Thankfully Clem had fallen asleep and they were able to leave her at the daycare.

"How is she?" James asks, anxious to talk to Juliet.

"She thinks its 1977 and she doesn't know me" he tells James. "Why would she think its 1977?"

James looks at him confused. "I. . ." He's hit with another brief flash of a memory.

"_I have been trying to get off of this island for more than three years and now I have got my chance. I am going to leave"_

"_You do realize its 1974, whatever it is you think you are going back too doesn't exist yet"_

"_That's not a reason not to go"_

"James?" Rachael reaches out and touches his arm when he shuts his eyes.

The memories overcome him all at once. The first few are just random flashes and then it all starts to come together. The crash, the island, Juliet, the Dharma Initiative. He remembers everything. The emotions were so strong he felt as though he was losing her all over again.

"_You're the only one around here that talks to dead people" _

"_That's not how it works"_

"_What did she want to tell me Miles?"_

"_It doesn't matter"_

"_It does matter" . . ._

"_I know she's gone. . . "_

"_It worked"_

He slowly opens up his eyes, disoriented himself for a moment, "Sonofabitch" he says aloud, "I know what she meant"

"James?" Rachael asks, he notices both Tom and Rachael were staring at him expectantly.

He reaches out and puts his hand against the wall, bending his head down trying to pull himself together. "I remember everything"

Tom and Rachael continue to watch him, too shocked by what they'd just seen him go through to respond.

"Oh God, Juliet. . " the urge to be with her, to hold her was consuming his emotions.

Not knowing what else to do or say, Tom reaches out and touches his arm, "She thinks its 1977 James"

He nods his head, not moving his eyes from her bed, "That's what year it was on the island. We lived in the 70's for three years" Before either Rachael or Tom can respond he turns to Tom. "I need to you find Kate"

Tom puts his hands up in the air, frustrated at the lack of answers. "Sure, fine, whatever" he says walking away from them.

When they were alone, James looks away from Juliet momentarily and towards Rachael. "I need to go in alone to see her for a few minutes. I can't explain it you Rach, but if she thinks it's 1977 it's going to freak her out to see you"

Rachael nods, she really didn't understand any of this but she was willing to go along with whatever was best for Juliet.

"I promise you Rachael, just give me a few minutes and I will explain everything to you"

She nods her head.

He approaches Juliet's bedside and sits down beside her. "Blondie?" her eyes were closed and her hands were on her forehead.

"James" she opens her eyes and gives him a small smile. "You're here"

"Of course I am Blondie" he picks up her hand. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away"

"What happened to me?" she asks. "Why am I here? I don't recognize the doctor he isn't from the Dharma Initiative", she starts to get teary again.

"You woke up with a bad headache Jules. We weren't sure what was wrong", he wipes away her tears. "Don't cry Jules, it's all going to be okay now"

She shakes her head, "This isn't the infirmary James. Where are we?"

"Blondie. . You're right, it ain't the infirmary"

"But. . " she's hit with the memory of those final moments at the swan site, being dragged into the pit, slipping from his grasp, falling. She gasps and starts trembling. "I fell. ."

"Juliet" he puts his hands to her cheeks. "It's okay Juliet. Ya, you fell but everything is okay now"

"But"

"Trust me Blondie, everything is okay now.", he keeps his voice calm despite the fact that he was anything but calm at the moment. He helps her to shift over in the bed and he climbs into the bed with her and pulls her into his arms.

"We aren't on the island anymore?" she asks.

"Nope" he says somewhat evasively. She seemed so fragile right now he was afraid of telling her that it was 2004, he wanted her to remember when she was ready.

"Where are we?" she asks.

He knew that question was coming. "It doesn't matter Blondie, all that matters is that you are okay"

"I'm sorry" she tells him.

He's confused, "Sorry for what Blondie?"

"I'm sorry that I told you that we weren't meant to be together. I didn't mean it"

"I know you didn't" he kisses the side of her head.

They are interrupted by a nurse entering the room. "I've got your pain medication Dr. Burke"

James tries to stop her before she calls Juliet Dr. Burke but he isn't able too.

"Why is she calling me Dr. Burke?" she asks confused. No one in the Dharma Initiative knew who she really was. "I don't want anything", Juliet tells the nurse, she was already confused enough without the influence of the medication.

"Juliet, honey, take the medicine. I know that your head still hurts"

"But", she starts to argue with him.

He motions for the nurse to go ahead and put the medication into her IV. "Jules, when you are feeling better it will all make sense. I promise"

It takes the medication only a few minutes to kick in and he can feel her start to relax in his arms.

"You won't leave me?" she asks.

"No Blondie" he says quickly. There wasn't a lot he could be sure of right now, but what he did know was that leaving her wasn't an option, not with the feeling of losing her was so fresh in his mind. "I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

"I love you James" she says as she drifts off to sleep.

He slides his hand into hers, "I love you too Juliet" he says softly.


	21. Found and Lost

**Chapter 21**

**Found and Lost**

Kate turns and leaves the emergency department. Getting close to the hospital exit she runs from the doors, once outside she bends down putting her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. She needed to remember all of it, she needed to understand it.

Jack had flown into Miami that morning. If he'd been truthful he wasn't ever going to come back to Miami. Despite everything that had happened with Juliet and James he couldn't help but think they'd be better off without him. But the previous evening he'd remembered. It had started slowly just a few flashing and then everything had come tumbling back.

He knew he had to come back to Miami, had to find out if they remembered too. Part of him was jealous of them, despite everything else they'd found their way back together. Even when they didn't remember they'd known that they belonged together. Flight 815 landed just like it was suppose to, but he was still alone.

He'd headed for the hospital after the plane landed in Miami figuring he'd find Juliet at work. It had been days since they'd spoken on the phone. Having remembered now, he'd connected her symptoms with her fall down the Swan station. He'd surmised she was on verge of remembering and that possibly her proximity to the bomb was the reason for her physical symptoms.

And then there was Kate. Maybe they were never meant to be together. Surely if they'd been meant to be together they would have found each other just like James and Juliet had. The first thing he'd done when he'd remembered last night was try to find her. James was sure she would have ended up in handcuffs. That didn't seem to be the case though. He couldn't find any trace of Kate Austen the criminal or Kate Austen the fugitive on the run. So where the hell was she?

Walking into the hospital he notices a woman bent over looking like she was trying to catch her breath.

"You okay Miss?" he asks approaching her.

Kate hears a familiar voice and slowly raises herself back standing, "Jack?"

He looks into her eyes, was it really possibly this easy. "Kate?"

She nods her head, too shocked that he was standing here in front of her to say anything else. She closes her eyes momentarily and sways, as she sways she feels his arms on her steadying her. The missing pieces fall into place as the rest of her island memories come tumbling back to her.

They stand there outside the hospital entrance, his hands on her shoulders. She finally opens her eyes and finds herself staring into his, "I remember" she whispers.

He nods his head, "I remember too, last night . . first it was just bits and pieces and then it was everything. I tried to find you. . ". He isn't sure why he needed to tell her that but he did. "There's no Kate Austen to be found in the USA"

"I. . " she wonders how to tell him.

He cuts her off, "It doesn't matter".

She finds herself wrapped in his arms, and doesn't try to pull her self away. She needed him to hold her, to tell her that it was all going to be okay. "I'm sorry Kate, I'm sorry for everything that happened on the island"

"Kate?" she closes her eyes when she hears the voice behind them and pulls her self from Jack's arms, slowly she turns around and looks into the questioning face of her husband.

"Tom . . . I can explain" she says seeing the hurt look in his eyes.

He ignores the man standing behind his wife "James is looking for you, Juliet was awake" he says simply and turns walking back into the hospital.

She glances over her shoulder at Jack, "I'm sorry" she mouths at him and then runs after Tom.

"Tom wait", she says. "It's not what you think. It's not what it looks like"

He spins on his heels, "Not what I think? Kate, I come out here looking for you and find _you_ in the arms of another man. You are _my wife_ Kate, but you are in the arms of a man that you apparently share some kind of past with.

(Okay, so maybe it was what it looked like). "Tom, _I remember_. I remember everything. Just let me explain." The impact of remembering, seeing Jack, Tom, it overtakes her and she dissolves into tears, "Just let me explain"

Seeing Kate's tears he can't stand back and watch anymore, whether this man was her husband or not, Jack remembered everything he'd ever felt for Kate. He walks up behind her and places a hand on her back. "She's telling you the truth" he tells Tom.

He can't decide whether it was hurt or jealousy or both, he'd been with Kate his entire life but here suddenly she had some other life that he wasn't a part of. Seeing Kate standing there sobbing he couldn't let himself comfort her. "I need to go and see to my patient" he says turning and walking into the hospital leaving Jack and Kate standing alone.

Alone again, she turns and faces Jack. There are still tears streaming down her face and he reaches out and wipes them away. "You couldn't find me because I'm not Kate Austen anymore" she tells him, "Jack, I'm married. I've been married to Tom since we were 18 years old"

He pulls her back into his arms and runs his hand down the back of her head. "It's going to be alright Kate, we'll make him understand". It suddenly dawns on him and he pulls away from her slightly. "You were on Flight 815 though? You are Juliet's friend Kate?"

She nods her head. "Juliet has worked with Tom for years" she explains. "We've been friends for years. I never knew though. I never felt any sort of connection to her until after she met Sawyer"

"Tom said something about Juliet, she's his patient?"

"MmHmm", she wipes away the last of her tears and explains to Jack what had happened in the past couple of hours.

She leads him back into the emergency department and towards Juliet's room. She notices Rachael standing outside the door and Tom doesn't seem to be anywhere nearby.

"Rachael, Tom said she woke up?" she asks when she approaches her.

Rachael nods her head, "Yes, but. . . ", she notices Jack behind Kate.. "Dr. Shephard" she says surprised. "Of course she knew he was involved with this, she just hadn't realized that he was back.

"Rachael, good to see you up and around" he offers her a smile.

She nods her head, "She was awake" turning her attention towards Kate. "She", she glances into Juliet's room, James was still curled up on the bed with her, holding her in his arms. Looking back at Kate and Jack, "She seems to think its 1977"

Both Jack and Kate look at her confused, "What?"

"She had no clue who Tom was" she explains, "When he asked her where she was and what year it was she said the Dharma Initiative and 1977"

Kate looks back at Jack.

"James told me that they lived together for three years during the 1970's", she looks from one to the other. "Juliet was 7 years old in 1977, either of you want to try to explain to me how she could be living with James in 1977?" She knew it sounded crazy, but she was reaching the end of her tolerance. She needed to hear to the truth.

"Rachael", it was Jack that spoke. "Let's go for a walk, we'll explain everything"

An hour later they were sitting in the cafeteria. Rachael looked at both of them in disbelief. "You both realize that all of this sounds completely crazy"

They both nod, but Kate speaks. "Rachael, I know it is difficult for you to understand all of this. Hell, I don't really understand all of it. We weren't supposed to remember, that wasn't how it was suppose to work."

"But you do remember, so what does it all mean? What is happening to Juliet? You weren't supposed to remember but you do and look at what remembering has done to her"

"I think what is happening to Juliet is because of her close proximity to the bomb. For some reason she's physically feeling the effects of what she went through on the island", Jack explains.

"Then how do we help her?" Rachael asks, fear and frustration driving her questions.

Jack reaches out his hand and places it over Rachael's. "I'm not sure Rachael, but we aren't going to let anything happen to her"

"Ha", Rachael says sarcastically, she can't help the anger she's feeling at these two people. "You aren't going to let anything happen to her? Then why is she lying in a hospital bed right now, why does she think she is still in 1977. By the sounds of it you were only thinking of yourself Jack Shephard, you only wanted to fix everything that you screwed up." Rachael gets up from the table, "I think you both need to stay away from Juliet"

"Rachael" Kate says getting up and following her.

She stops in her tracks and turns and faces Kate, "What Kate?"

"I. . . . Juliet is my best friend, Rachael. Just because I remember what happened on the island, it doesn't mean I've forgotten the past five years."

Rachael feels the tears burning her eyes, "I just want my sister back"

Kate steps forward and wraps her arms around Rachael. "Then let's go get her back"

The trio walk back to the emergency department.

Jack and Kate stop at the nurse's station and Rachael goes to check on Juliet and James. Peeking in the room she sees that it's empty. She walks back to the nurse's station, "that's strange, the room's empty"

Kate sees Tom entering the department and approaches him. "Tom, where's Juliet?" she asks.

"What do you mean where's Juliet? She's in her room"

Kate shakes her head, "She's not in her room Tom, Rachael just checked, it's empty"

Tom walks over and looks in the room, shaking his head he walks back to the nurse's station. "Mary, where's Dr. Burke?"

"She was sound asleep last I checked and Mr. Ford ran upstairs to check on his daughter"

Rachael's heart starts to pound. She sees James walking towards them. "James" she rushes towards him. "Where's Juliet?"

"She's asleep, the nurse gave her some more pain medication" he sees Rachael shaking her head. "Rach?"

"She's not in her room James"

He rushes towards the room, "Sonofabitch" He glances towards the nurse who was caring for her. "Where the hell is she?" he asks not even trying to hide his anger.

She shakes her head. "A double trauma came in, we were all busy ..... I don't know where she is"

James leans against the wall and puts his head in his hands. "Sonofabitch" he repeats for the second time in five minutes.

*******

**Okay, so I'm procrastinating today which means you get a second chapter ;). Enjoy! I'm guessing you've figured out at this point the story is going to be more than 21 chapters!**


	22. You're a cop?

**Chapter 22**

**You're a cop?**

Rachael tries not to let herself panic, by the looks of James at the moment he was doing enough panicking for both of them. "How long ago did you go upstairs James?" she asks.

"Twenty minutes tops. She was completely out when I left. The nurse had given her another dose of pain medication. I figured I had time to run up and check on Clem. . . " he paces back and forth across the doorway of Juliet's room.

"She couldn't have gone far then right?" Kate steps forward.

James shakes his head, "I wouldn't think so. The last time she was awake she was still in no shape to get up and walk anywhere, and furthermore she thought it was 1977. She had no clue we were in Miami, let alone any knowledge of the fact that she works in this hospital."

"Maybe she's just got up to go to the bathroom. It's possible there is a simple solution to this?" Rachael suggests.

Was any of this simple? James shrugs his shoulders, "One way to find out"

Rachael and Kate head off to check the bathrooms and quickly return to James, Jack and Tom. Rachael is shaking her head, "She isn't there." Not that any of them truly thought she was.

A quick check of the emergency department doesn't turn up any hints of the where a bouts of Juliet. A check of her bed reveals a fresh blood stain and the remnants of the IV that was once in her arm.

"Dammit Juliet, where did you go?" James mutters under his breath looking into her room. He paces back and forth trying to decide what to do, standing around was just leaving him feeling helpless. "I'm going to check her office"

"If she thinks it's 1977 she wouldn't know her office existed here, right?" Kate asks.

"When did you go and become the logical one Freckles?" he fires back at her frustrated. He shakes his head, "I have to do something I can't just stand around here waiting for her to come back. Maybe she realized we ain't in 1977"

"I'll go with you" Rachael says falling in beside him.

"Did it occur to you that maybe she didn't leave on her own?" Jack asks.

"What are you suggesting?" James snips back at him.

"I don't know", Jack replies at a loss, "If all of us have remembered the island what if others have too, Ben?" he suggests.

"You don't seriously think he'd come here and take her, do you?" Kate asks.

Rachael watches them, "Who is Ben?" she asks.

"He's the bastard that got Juliet to go to the island in the first place and held her hostage there." James hadn't even thought of the possibility that maybe Ben had something to do with Juliet disappearing. Suddenly, finding her became all the more urgent. He'd lost her once and found her, he wasn't about to lose her again"

"I'm going to call security", Tom says going to the phone. "She's been gone too long I don't like the thought of her out wandering around, especially when I'm not really sure what's wrong with her."

Kate nods her head. "Probably a good idea. The more people that are looking for her the better. I'll drive back to the house and see if she's there. Maybe she simply went home."

"Maybe" James replies hopefully.

Three hours later a search of the hospital and Juliet's house had proved to be unsuccessful. Juliet was no where to be found.

It was getting late and they'd been at the hospital for close to ten hours now.

Rachael had stayed with James as they'd searched the hospital. Over the hours he'd watched her become more and more tired looking. She'd only been out of the hospital for a day and here she'd been running all over the place looking for her sister. "Kate think you can run Rachael home?" he finally asks.

"Sure", Kate says stepping forward. "We should probably get the kids and take them home too. It's been a long day"

He nods, "You don't mind staying at the house and helping Rachael with them?"

"Maybe you'd like to ask me what I'd like to do?" Rachael turns and glares at him, "I'm not going home James. I'm staying here till we find Juliet"

He steps closer to her, "Rach, you are exhausted. You've done everything you can to help us find Juliet but you gotta take care of yourself. Juliet will be upset if she knows you made yourself sick trying to find her."

She stands her ground, "I'm not leaving James"

"Please, don't be as stubborn as your sister Rachael. I've only got the strength for one stubborn Carlson sister today and it seems your sister has chosen today" he pleads with her.

She purses her lips and damn if she didn't look like Juliet when she did that. He digs in his feet, getting his next argument ready.

"Fine, I'll go home"

"Thank you"

"But you have to promise me you will call as soon as you know anything"

"I promise"

Kate steps aside with Tom. "I'll see you later at home?" he asks.

She's surprised by this, "You still want me there?"

"Kate" he wraps his arms around her. "I'm sorry I've been such an ass today". Watching James frantically searching for Juliet he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if the roles had been reversed and it was Kate who was missing. Despite all the crazy stuff they'd told him today, Kate was his wife and he wasn't going to lose her.

She kisses him tenderly. "I love you Tom. I'm sorry that you got caught up in all of this"

He puts a hand on her cheek and looks her in the eye, "I love you Kate. I'll see you later"

Kate and Rachael head to the daycare to pick up the children and take them home.

Jack stood in the background watching Kate with Tom, he really had lost her. Once the women had left he turns back to Jack and Tom, "what do we do now?"

"Security has notified the police, they are sending an officer down to take a statement"

"The police?" Jack asks, "You really think we are there now?"

"We've searched the entire hospital Jack, she's not here. You have any other brilliant ideas?" James asks sarcastically. His dislike for Jack hadn't dissipated any since he fully remembered everything that happened on the island.

"Jim?" James hears a familiar voice behind him and turns.

"Sonofabitch . . . Miles?" was it possible, he remembered too. "What the hell are you doing here man? You remember?"

Miles nods, like it was no big deal that he remembered. "What the hell am I doing here?" Miles asks. "What the hell are you doing here? And the doc?" he gestures towards Jack.

"I can't believe you remember." James holds his hand out to his friend and the two embrace.

"So are you going to tell me what you are doing here Jim? Thought you lived in L.A.?"

"Juliet" is all he is able to muster out.

"She's here?" Miles asks.

"She was", James says evasively. "She's gone"

Miles cocks his head to the side, "What do you mean she's gone?" he asks.

"I mean she's disappeared" he spills out the story of what had happened in the past few weeks.

Miles flashes a detective's badge at them, "then I guess you are the reason I was called down here"

"Sonofabitch" James says shocked, "You're a cop?"

Miles grins, "Detective actually, crazy shit huh"

James can't help but laugh at his old friend. "You could say that"

Tom's pager goes off and he glances down at the number, "I've got to go, but keep me up to date about what is happening"

James nods as she watches Tom walk away.

"Who's that?" Miles asks as James leads them into Juliet's room to talk.

"Kate's husband"

"The Kate, island Kate?" he's shocked.

"The one and only. You just missed her she took Juliet's sister home. Kate and Juliet have been friends for years"

"Wow" Miles says truly surprised. "And what about you Jack? How'd you end up here?"

"Long story" Jack says to Miles, not in the mood for any further 'island' reunions.

"What are we going to do to find Juliet, Miles?" James cuts in before Miles can ask any more questions.

"Well she's only been missing for a few hours. Technically she doesn't qualify for a missing person yet"

"Screw the rules Miles, _this is Juliet _we are talking about"

Miles sees the look of desperation on his friend's face. It's a look that he feels like he'd seen just yesterday when Jim had pushed him face down into Juliet's grave wanting to know what she needed to tell him before she died. "Jim"

James cuts him off, "Don't Jim me dammit, Miles you are a detective, tell me you are going to help me find her"

Miles sighs, "Of course I'll help you Jim." He goes over to the phone and calls the station with details about Juliet and then returns to James. "Okay, my car's out front. Let's go look for her"

James nods, "you coming doc?" he asks.

Jack shakes his head. "I'll wait here, someone needs to be here in case she comes back"

"Thanks doc" James replies genuinely.

James and Miles head out to his car. Driving around they fill one another in on what had happened in their lives up to the present. Before long the sun is setting and it's getting dark out.

"It's getting late Jim. None of the officers patrolling the street have found her. You wanna call it a night, go home to your kid?"

James shakes his head, "I'm not quitting till I find her Miles. She's out here somewhere, I know it"

"Jim, I don't understand this anymore than you do. But we aren't going to find her aimlessly driving around the streets of Miami"

James hits his stitched up hand against the dashboard and curses. "You got a better idea?"

He shakes his head, and continue's to drive. "We weren't supposed to remember" he changes the subject.

"No we weren't" he agrees. "But Juliet and I found each other anyways. I'd fallen in love with her again even before I remembered. Remembering only showed me what my life would be like without her. I'm not stopping till I find her"

Miles turns right at the next set of lights and drives the car along the water. James looks around, looking for anyone that might resemble Juliet. He recognizes where they were, the day before Rachael's surgery when he'd taken Juliet for a walk this was where they'd walked too.

"Stop the car man", James says suddenly.

Miles looks at him, "Why"

"Just stop the car dammit"

"You got it boss" he says hitting the brakes. As soon as the car stops he watches as James jumps out. "Where you goin'?" he asks and is met with no response. He sees James run in front of the car and across the road.

"Juliet?"

***

And chapter 22 is a wrap! I know it's sort of evil to leave it here and probably more evil to tell you that it may be a bit before I update. I'm headed into my last two weeks of graduate school (forever and ever finished with that :)) and life is somewhat insane. I'm not sure that I'll get a chance to update till I'm finished. I may surprise you though, I do love to procrastinate.

Anyways, I know that there are lots of you reading this story . . I'm challenging all of you that are reading and not reviewing to go ahead and leave a review. It just might inspire me to procrasinate and get another chapter out sooner ;))...


	23. Benefits of being an 'Other'

**Because you knew I was never going to last two weeks .... **

**Chapter 23**

**Benefit's of being an 'Other'**

Miles watches as James runs out in front of the car and across the street, his eyes then fall on what James had seen. "Jim" he throws open the car door and runs after his friend. He pulls out his radio and calls into headquarters, "I think we've got her"

He'd noticed the blonde half sitting - half lying across the bench. The same bench where they'd shared their first kiss what seemed like a lifetime ago. Her eyes are closed when he approaches her, "Juliet" her skin was cool under his touch

She recoils away from him at his touch. . "No" her eyes fly open.

He pulls his hand away from her, "Juliet, it's me. It's James"

Her focus shifts to him, "James?"

"Yeah", he reaches for her hand and she moans when he picks it up. "Jules what is it?"

"She okay?" Miles asks reaching them.

James takes a moment to glance over his shoulder at Miles, "I don't know". He returns his attention to Juliet, from the dim light of the street light he can see her hand and wrist are bruised and swollen. "What the hell" he mutters under his breath, "Juliet what happened to you? Why did you leave the hospital?"

"I. . ", she closes her eyes again.

"Julie?" he reaches out and touches her cheek and she recoils from his touch again. "Hey", he says softly. He glances back at Miles as he trys to figure out what the hell had happened to her. He watches as Miles shrugs his shoulders.

"James" she finally says again after what seems like an eternity. Reopening her eyes she focuses on him. "It happened, the island, I remember." She hadn't seemed to notices Miles standing behind him yet.

He nods, "I know Jules. I remember too". He swallows heavily, 'I remember losing you' he thinks to himself. The memories were all too fresh especially given the events of the day. He reaches out and touches her gently and this time she doesn't slink away from his touch.

"Oh god" she chokes out and the tears start to flow. "It was all real"

He pulls her into his arms and runs his hands down her head. "Its okay, its okay" he says over and over again. "I've got you and I'm not ever going to let you go again."

It's awhile before her sobs slow and he finally pulls away from her. Finally her eyes appear clearer and for the first time in almost twenty four hours she seemed fully here with him. He trails his fingers down her cheek and looks her in the eyes and gives her a dimpled grin, "Looks like you were wrong Blondie, we were meant to be together after all". He knows earlier they'd had a similar discussion but at the time she thought they were still in 1977.

It takes a minute but the corners of her mouth turn up ever so slightly into a grin, "Leave it to you to remember that"

"Yeah, well! You know how I like to prove you wrong", he shrugs.

"James" with her uninjured hand she reaches out for his hand.

"Yeah?" he asks seeing the seriously look on her face as he takes her hand.

"Would you shut up and kiss me already?"

He lets out a laugh, "Thought you'd never ask!" He leans in, sliding a hand behind her neck and kisses her deeply.

Behind him he hears Miles clear his throat. "Yeah, umm, I'll still here you two"

Pulling away from Juliet he can't help laugh, "Oh umm, Jules?" he says, tilting his head towards Miles, "Seems like someone else remembered too." He shifts out of the way so that Juliet could see Miles.

"Miles?" her grin gets larger. "What are you doing here?"

It's his turn to laughs, "well you see" he flashes his detective's badge. "I got called to the hospital on a missing person's case"

"You're a cop?" she laughs.

"Why do you people find it so funny that I'm a cop?" he pretends to be offended. James moves to the bench beside Juliet and Miles leans in and hugs her. "Honestly though Juliet, I'm thrilled that you are okay"

"Thanks Miles" she says genuinely.

James reaches out and takes Juliet's hand again. He doesn't miss her flinching as he moves around her hand. "What happened to you Jules? Do you remember anything that happened today?"

She glances down at their hands. "Edmund" she whispers.

"Edmund?" he asks. "As in your ex-husband Edmund?"

She nods her head, "He was at the hospital. When I woke up he was in my room"

He can't help but wonder if she was just remembering another time, why would her ex-husband have shown up in her room. He notices her shivering. It was Miami, but the temperature had dropped significantly. "How about we get you back to the hospital and then you can tell us the whole story."

She shakes her head, "I, I . . don't want to go back there. Just take me home James"

He gently brings her swollen bruised hand to his mouth and kisses it gently, "We need to take care of this, and I need to know you are okay. Then we'll go home."

She still looks hesitant. "I'm not going to leave you again Jules. We'll get this taken care of and I promise I'll take you home"

She finally nods in agreement, "Okay". He stands and she allows him to help her up and lead her towards Miles car.

Within a few minutes they are back at the hospital. Miles had radioed ahead and said that they'd found Juliet and were bringing her back in. Jack and Tom were waiting for them at the emergency room doors.

"I'm okay, you two" she tells them seeing the worried looks on their faces as they settle her back into an exam room.

"Sure" Jack tells her. "How about you let us be the judge of that?"

Twenty minutes later she'd been examined and x-rayed. Her left hand and wrist were badly sprained and now splinted. She had significant bruising to her upper left arm which looked like a hand print. Another bruise was forming along her collarbone to the base of her neck. She hadn't elaborated to either Tom or Jack about what had happened to her in the hours that she'd been missing. She had essentially no memory from the time that James had brought her to the hospital that morning. The headache that had brought them there that morning was now just a dull ache.

Jack and Tom had left them alone and Miles had stepped out of the room to update the station. "Julie?" James approached the bed, sitting down next to her. "You said that Edmund was here earlier, did he do this to you?"

While she'd had no memory of the majority of the day she clearly remembered everything from the moment she'd woken up and found Edmund in her room. She nods her head in answer to his question. "Our divorce was messy" she starts and fills him in on the differences between this life and the previous life when she'd gone to the island. "Our divorce was just finalized when I helped Rachael get pregnant with Julian. I wouldn't let him in on any of my research. He seemed to snap after that and I completely shut him out from my life. I left his research company and restarted working at the hospital." She'd told him some of this in the past few weeks, he had known she was divorced and he knew about her leaving her ex's company and starting her job at the hospital.

"I guess he's been keeping tabs on me all this time."

"What?" he asks. "Why would it even matter to him?"

"He's lost his mind James. He said he's been following me for weeks, following us . . ."

"Sonofabitch" he mutters.

"I woke up and I was disoriented. I wasn't sure where I was at first, but he was standing in the corner of the room. He pretended that he was relieved that I was finally awake"

He notices that she's staring off into nowhere while she tells him the story.

"I. . . he told me that he was there to take me home. At first he pretended that we were still together. I was disoriented and my head was still hurting so much. He pulled out my IV and grabbed me by the arm."

He sees her trembling as she seemed to relive what had happened. He curses himself for having left her alone, having left her vulnerable to this.

"The way that he held onto me . ", she shutters again. "I just felt so terrible that all I wanted to do was lay back down, but he kept his hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me towards the door and telling me that I'd feel better once he got me home to my own bed. When he got me outside of the hospital, my head started to clear. I tried to get away from him, to get someone's attention."

He slides his hand into hers and inter-tangles his fingers with hers, stroking her hand with his thumb encouraging her to go on.

"When we were in the car he started asking me about my research. I told him that I wasn't doing any fertility research anymore and he screamed at me that he knew that I was. Why else would I have taken so much time off from my practice these past few weeks?"

"I tried to explain to him about Rachael's surgery, and you. . " Her free hand goes to her shoulder and her fingers trail along the bruise along the base of her neck, "he grabbed me and shook me, telling me he wanted money." Her eyes are closed again as she relives what she'd experienced that afternoon, "He lost all his money, the company was going under. . and there are people after him for money he borrowed and didn't pay back."

"He's going to find more than the loan sharks after him Blondie" he mumbles under his breath. "I'm going to kill the bastard"

"He kept telling me that I owed him, all that money that I made off my research and he'd gotten none of it in the divorce... and now he was looking for me to pay up. He took me to his lab. . "

"Juliet, did he hurt you?" he looks at her seriously.

She shakes her head, opens her eyes and focuses on him. "There was no one at the lab, it was empty. He kept going on and on about needing the money, that people were going to kill him if he didn't pay off the debt. Once my headache started to fade everything seemed to come flooding back. . . I told him I was leaving and I was done with whatever he was trying to do and he grabbed me. . ."

He nods for her to continue. . "I fought him off." He sees a tiny smirk on her face. "I guess there was some benefit to my time as an 'other' after all."

"Juliet?" he asks with his own smirk, "Where's Edmund now?"

"Probably still at his office. He was completely shocked when I started defending myself against his blows. Not once in our entire marriage did I ever defend myself. I got out of the lab and I ran. I ended up at the beach where you found me." She glances down at her outfit, she was in the same pyjama pants and t-shirt she'd been in when he brought her to the hospital this morning. "I had no way of getting a hold of anyone and I was closer to the hospital than to home. I was on my way back here it was getting dark and cold. . I had stopped to rest when you found me."

There's a knock on the door and Miles pops his head in, "Can I come in now?" he asks.

Both Juliet and James nod and he walks into the room, "you ready to tell me what happened?" he asks.

She nods her head and repeats the same story to him that she'd just told to James. When she's finished he leaves them alone again, heading back to the station to file the paperwork and send an officer to pick up Edmund.

"I want to go home James" she tells him when they are alone again.

"It's close to midnight Jules, why don't we just stay here for the night. I want to know you are okay"

She shakes her head, "Please" she pleads with him, "I need to go home"

"Alright" he finally gives in. Like he wasn't going to do whatever she wanted for the rest of their lives. "I'll go talk to Jack and Tom". Seeing the look on her face he assures her, "I'll be right outside the door Blondie, no one is coming in here unless it is through me."

He walks to the door and gets the attention of Jack and let's him know that Juliet wanted to go home. Jack tries to bargain with her to stay the night but she wasn't giving in.

An hour and a half later he has her home and tucked into bed. She was exhausted, as was he but Rachael needed to be filled in on the events of the evening. Finally he crawls into bed beside her and pulls her into his arms. She was sound asleep but she moulds herself to his body. As he's falling asleep he wonders if it was possible that it had only been twenty four hours since this whole crazy day had started.

He wakes the next morning to the sound of the phone and a tiny foot across his chest. He notices Clementine had made her way into the bed with them. The little girl was spread out across the two of them, half snuggled with Juliet and half across him.

He reaches over and groggily picks up the phone before it wakes up either Juliet or Clem.

"Hello" he says into the phone.

"Jim" he hears Miles voice on the other end of the phone, "its Miles" he's suddenly wide awake.

"You got the bastard?" he half growls into the phone.

"Jim, we found Burke at his office" Miles tells him. "He's dead"


	24. Did she? Or didn't she?

**Chapter 24 – Did she? Or didn't she?**

Phone in hand he quietly slides out of the bed and exits the room. "What the hell do you mean he's dead?" he seethes into the phone, pulling the bedroom door closed behind him.

"Dead as in dead Jim", Miles tells him. "No pulse, not breathing, cold"

"Yeah" James continues sarcastically, "I understand dead". He shakes his head this was almost too much to comprehend. He glances at the bedroom door, "What happened to him?"

"Can't say yet, the medical examiner hasn't released cause of death"

James glances at the closed bedroom door, "You must have some idea Miles"

"I'm sorry Jim, I can't tell you anything."

"Can't or won't" he replies annoyed and then it dawns on him that there was more than one reason that Miles was calling him, "It's because Juliet was the last one to see him alive" his tone changes slightly, "You think she did this?" it was as much a question as a statement.

"Jim, I need you to bring her down to the station. We've got more questions for her, in light of what has happened"

"Dammit Miles", James replied, "_Do_ you think she did this?" he tries to keep his voice low to keep from waking anyone else in the house.

Before Miles can respond he feels a hand on his shoulder, turning slowly he looks into the questioning face of Juliet, "_James?"_ she asks.

"I've got to go Miles, Juliet's awake" he says, tone harsher than he'd meant it to be.

"Have her here by ten Jim or I'll have to send a squad car to pick her up."

"Fine" he slams his cell phone shut and tosses it onto the hall table outside Juliet's room. He takes a second to compose himself before leaning in and kissing Juliet, "Good mornin' Blondie" he says pulling back from her.

She smiles, "Good morning yourself". She doesn't miss the distracted look on his face. "What did Miles want?" she asks, raising her eyebrows at him. "They didn't find Edmund did they?"

He intertwines his fingers with hers and looks down at their hands, "Jules, let's go into the living room and sit down" he looks up meeting her eyes.

"James?" she meets his gaze, knowing he has something to tell her that he doesn't want too. "Just tell me"

With his free hand he tucks her hair behind her shoulder and brushes his fingers across the purple bruises along her collarbone and neck. 'Damn that bastard for doing this to her' he thinks to himself. 'If he wasn't already dead I'd kill him myself'

"They didn't find him, did they?", she repeats when he doesn't answer.

He keeps his eyes on her, "Jules they did find him, at his office where you said he took you"

"But?" she says sensing there was more.

"Julie, he was dead when they got there"

She feels her legs go numb under her and fights to keep herself upright, "Dead?" She sees the look on his face and realizes the implications of what he'd just told her, "James, he was alive when I left. I". . . "I didn't do this"

"Hey" he cups her face with his hands, and shakes his head "I know you didn't do this Juliet. You aren't capable of killing the man in cold blood"

She flashes back to that moment on the beach a lifetime ago, when she'd shot Danny point blank in the chest to allow Sawyer and Kate to get away. Was she capable of murder in this life too, she wonders? "But Miles thinks that I did" she sees it in his eyes.

"Juliet he's just doing his job" he tries to reason with her and himself. There was no way she could have killed the man, not the way that she was yesterday or who she was in this lifetime.

She pushes her hands through her hair, yesterday's headache was still lingering. She was sure of what had happened when Edmund had taken her from the hospital, or was she? She closes her eyes and tries to remember exactly what had happened yesterday. The entire previous twenty four hours were still so hazy. She remembers fighting him off, what if she had killed him. Her eyes fly open, "Oh God James. What if I did do this? What if I killed him when I fought him off?"

He pulls her into a hug, "We'll figure this out Juliet. We haven't come this far, we didn't remember just so we could be apart". When he pulls back from her he again traces his fingers over the fresh bruises and picks up her splinted hand, "Look what he did to you Juliet.... if something did happen, it was self defence."

"What time do we have to be at the police station?" she asks, not replying to his last comment. "Do I have time for a shower?"

"Not till 10, you have time"

"Okay" she says distantly. She turns and heads back into the bedroom.

He hesitates a moment, "Ah hell" he says aloud, 'her damn dead ex ain't gonna ruin what I had planned for this morning' and then turns and follows her into the bedroom. The bathroom door was shut and he sees Clem still sleeping soundly on the bed. He carefully picks up the little girl and returns her to her own bed, hoping that she slept a bit longer. Walking back into the bedroom the bathroom door was now open a crack. He hears the shower running and Juliet curse. He pokes his head into the bathroom and finds her standing naked, peeling the split off her hand. "Whatcha doin' there Blondie?"

"I can't wash my hair with this bloody thing on" she says frustrated. "Sonofabitch" she says under her breath, testing out her wrist once it was out of the splint. She wasn't washing her hair with this hand, with the splint or without it.

He raises his eyebrows at her, "There's a solution to that problem ya know" he says as his eyes travel down her body.

"And just what is that?" she asks, oblivious to his plans.

"Well it seems that you've got one bum hand, and I've got two perfectly good ones" he says grinning, "And I seem to recall that we fit quite nicely together in our little shower in Dharma-Ville"

Despite her mood she can't help but smile. "Dharma-Ville" she whispers and nods her head, meeting his eyes again. "I remember"

It takes him two steps to reach her and draw her into his arms. "And I'm very glad of that fact" he mumbles against her lips, kissing her hard. "I love you Juliet"

At this rate they weren't making it into the shower, she pulls back from the kiss and turns and steps into the steaming water, letting it fall onto her back. Within a moment he'd removed his clothes and joined her.

For a little while anyways, he could make her forget what the rest of the day might bring.

Okay, first off. . sorry for the very long wait and the fact that this is a pretty short chapter in comparison to the others. I figured it had been long enough since I'd posted something and wanted to get a little something up so that you know I do intend to finish this story. Who would have thought that once I finished working 70 hours/week, life would get busier instead of less insane!

So here is chapter 24. . I think there will be two chapters after this. Enjoy. . please drop me a review and let me know you are still interested in how this is going to end.


	25. Questions and answers

**Chapter 25 - **

**Question and answers**

"You ready to go Blondie?" he asks, noticing it was getting close to 9:45. They were pushing their 10 am deadline to meet with Miles.

"Ready as I'm ever going to be" she says fumbling to try and do up the last few buttons on her blouse.

Seeing her struggling he reaches and out places a hand on hers, "Here, I got it for you", he says buttoning up the last few buttons for her.

"You ever going to tell me why you have those stitches?" she asks, glancing down at his hand.

"Doesn't matter" he tells her.

She gives him a look, "What did you do James?" she asks again, persisting till he answers.

"Hit the wall" he says doing up the last button. "Let's leave it at that", he puts his fingers under her chin and tilts her head up so they are looking eye to eye and he kisses her softly. "Let's go do this and put this behind us."

"Agreed", she tells him, not shifting her eyes from his gaze.

Half an hour later they were parking at the police station. He takes her hand, and again looks her in the eyes. "Just tell him the truth Blondie, exactly what you told me last night. You have nothing to hide"

She nods her head, but remains silent contemplating what might occur over the next couple of hours.

Hand in hand they enter the police station and are met by Miles. He escorts them to his office and stops at the door. "Sorry Jim" he says when they reach the door, "I need to talk with her alone"

He's about to argue when Juliet places her hand on his chest, "Its okay James" she says calmly, "I will be alright"

"You sure about this Blondie?" he asks.

Again she gazes into his eyes and nods her head, "I'm sure"

Nodding his head in response he watches as Miles escorts Juliet into his office. An unsettled feeling takes over him as Miles shuts the door. He takes a seat on the bench outside the office to wait.

Three hours later Juliet and Miles emerge from behind the closed door. Juliet looks worn out, but otherwise no worse off than she had when she entered the office.

He takes her hand when she offers it to him. "Everything okay?" he asks, and is met with the nod of her head.

"Miles has asked that I identify Edmund's body"

He shoots Miles a glare, "Don't you think she's been through enough man? First you accuse of her killing the man, now you ain't even sure you got the right man and want her to identify his remains?"

"James", Juliet says calmly before Miles can speak, "Its okay. I already agreed to do it"

"Juliet, honey you don't have to do this" he's amazed once again by her good heart.

"I know that I don't _have_ to do this, I _need_ to do this." She needed to see for herself Edmund was really gone. "Please try to understand"

He shakes his head, "I don't understand it Jules, not one bit." He resounds himself to the fact that whether he liked it or not she was going to do this and he might as well support her.

"I've cleared Juliet, Jim", Miles jumps in. "New evidence and time of death suggests that _Edmund_ died shortly after we found Juliet last night"

"Then why the hell did you drag her down here and put her through this Miles" he snaps.

"Jim", Miles starts.

"James", Juliet chimes in. "I'll explain it to you later. Can we just get this over with? I would like to go home"

"Fine" he says dropping it, encouraged that at least Miles had no plans on arresting Juliet today.

Miles leads them through the station and escorts them to the morgue. He places them in a waiting room while he goes to speak with the coroner.

"Are you sure that you want to do this Jules?" he asks her when they are alone.

She takes a deep breath. "No" she replies honestly, "But I _need_ to do this"

"Why?" he asks confused. "Why do you want to put yourself through this? Let the bastard lie in there cold, dead and alone that's what he deserves"

"I have to know that he is dead" she tries to explain. She stares at the curtain covering the viewing window, "I did this before" she says cryptically.

"What do you mean you did this before?" he asks walking up behind her and placing his arm around her shoulder.

"Even if I didn't kill him, he's dead because of me." She leans into him and he tightens his grip around her.

"None of this is your fault Juliet. You didn't make him pilfer his life savings away. You didn't make his company go broke"

"Didn't I?" she asks looking over at him and shrugging her shoulders. "He died the last time because I told Richard Alpert that he'd never let me work for Mittelos while he was alive, that the only thing that would let me work for them was Edmund getting hit by a bus. He got hit by a bus James" she says monotone.

"He got what he deserved, karma's a bitch Juliet"

"So is time travel" she says looking away from him and staring at the closed curtains.

Before he can respond Miles enters the room. He feels like he could cut the tension with a knife, "Ready Juliet?" he asks.

She nods her head, "Ready as I'll ever be"

Miles steps over the curtain and opens it.

Juliet takes a deep breath and steps towards the window and James falls into step behind her. Looking into the window at the body of the man, she gasps and turns burying her head in James shoulder.

He was surprised by her reaction, "Julie?" he says running her fingers down her head.

Miles closes the curtain, "Juliet?" he asks unsure what her reaction meant.

She takes a moment to let what she'd just seen sink in and finally slowly turns herself and looks from James to Miles shaking her head, "It's not him, that isn't Edmund"

"What the hell", both Miles and James respond at the same time.

"What do you mean it isn't him", Miles asks.

"I mean it's not _him_" her voice is steadier now. "I was married to the man for years. I don't know who that man is, the likeness to Edmund is uncanny, but that is not Edmund Burke"

"Sonofabitch", James mumbles.

"Juliet, are you absolutely sure?" Miles asks while pulling out his cell phone.

She nods her head as he dials the phone. "This is Miles" he says into the phone. "It's not Burke down here" He exchanges a few more words with whoever it was on the other end of the phone and slams it shut. "We'll find him Juliet" he tells her. "He's not going to get away with what he did to you"

"Sonofabitch" James says again. "You ain't safe with him out there Juliet. He came after you once, what is to stop him from doing it again"

"He's not going to come after me again James" she says turning once again to look at him.

"How do you know that, how can you be so sure"

"Because I saw his face when for the first time I fought back against him last night, he knew that I was not the same person he was married too. He knew I was capable of killing him and if there is one thing Edmund Burke is afraid of, it's death"

"Any clue where he'd go Juliet?" Miles asks.

She shakes her head, "Not a clue, as I told you earlier, before yesterday I hadn't seen or heard from Edmund since our divorce was finalized."

"Alright, well then I guess you are free to go. If we need any more information I know where to find you"

"Thanks Miles", Juliet replies.

"Thanks Miles?" James asks confused. "For dragging you down here, interrogating you and making you identify the body of a man you don't know"

"James, it's alright" she says softly and calmly. "It's over"

"It's not over Juliet, that bastard is still out there. What if he comes after you again?"

"Then you will protect me" she says looking into his eyes.

He looks at her confused, baffled by her sudden calmness.

"There is absolutely no reason to think he'll come after me again. I'm not apart of what he's got going on right now. He couldn't get from me what he wanted." She pauses a moment and sighs, "_James, please, I just want to go home_. The last few weeks have been crazy and the last few days have been hell. I just want to go home. I want to spend the day with you, with my sister and the kids. _Please, just take me home_"

He gives in, "I guess I can't deny you that. You'll keep us updated?" he turns and asks Miles.

"Absolutely" he replies. "I can post an officer outside the house too, if that will help"

James nods, "I can live with that" he glances at Juliet. "What do you think Blondie?"

"If it means we are out of here I'll agree to anything"

"Fine" he finally concedes. "Let's go home Blondie"

"Best thing I've heard all day" she says with a smile and then smirks at him and winks, "Well maybe second best"

Miles looks from Jim to Juliet and shakes his head, "I'll check in with you later"

An hour later they arrive back at the house. On the way Juliet had called Rachael and told her they were on their way home.

"We're home", Juliet calls entering the house. Met with silence she calls out, "Rach? . . Julian?. . .. Clem?" Met again with no answer she shrugs her shoulders at James. "Where do you think they are? It was only forty five minutes ago that I talked to Rachael."

He shrugs his shoulders back, "Dunno"

Juliet wanders through the house followed by James, "Rach?" she calls out again unable to help herself feel a bit of panic with being met again by silence. "Maybe they are outside?" she says pushing open the kitchen door, followed closely by James.

Stepping out onto the patio Julian jumps up from behind a chair, followed closely by Clem. "Surprise" he giggles, "S'prise", Clem giggles. She realizes the patio had been decorated in streamers and balloons and food was spread out on the picnic table. Following the children's giggles, Rachael, Jack, Kate and Tom come into the yard from the garage.

"What's this?" Juliet asks surprised. She glances back at James who had a big grin spread across his face.

"We love you Auntie Juliet" Julian says coming to her and giving her a hug. She looks to Rachael, "It's been such a crazy few weeks and we wanted to surprise you." Rachael hugs Juliet, "I wanted to thank you for everything you'd done for me over last several months. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you Jules". Juliet fights to hold back her tears. Pulling apart from Rachael she glances down at Clem and leans down to pick up the little girl. "Did you help with this too sweetheart?"

Clem gives her an exaggerated head nod and hugs her, "Love you mama" the little girl says.

With that, the tears that had been threatening spill over, "Oh honey" she says hugging her tighter and glancing at James. He steps towards Juliet, Cassidy would never be forgotten in Clem's life. Clem would always know that Cassidy was her mother, but if he had his way he and Juliet would raise Clem together and she'd be her mom. "She's sort of jumping ahead here" he says wiping away Juliet's tears.

She gives him a confused look.

"The surprise party was your sister's idea, but Clem and I have been chatting" he says smiling at his daughter, "And we decided we have our own surprise for you too"

When Juliet had been searching the house, he'd quickly slipped into the bedroom and gotten what he needed. "James?" Juliet says watching him get down on one knee and pull a box from his pocket.

"Juliet" he starts, "I should have done this a lifetime ago. I saw a glimpse of what my life was like without you and that's a life that I don't want to ever live again. I love you Juliet" he slides a diamond ring from the box. "Will you marry me?"

Her eyes blur with tears, "Yes" she says voice cracking, "yes I will marry you"

He slides the ring onto her waiting finger and pulls her into his arms and his lips meet hers, "I love you Juliet"

"I love you back" she mumbles against him.


	26. Memories

**Chapter 26– Memories**

The next week passed quietly. Both James and Juliet reluctantly went back to their jobs. Despite the fact that they'd spend the last several days just being together, the world around them had continued to move on. With the knowledge that each of them now had of the island, life was both weird and wonderful at the same time. It wasn't everyday that one suddenly had two separate lives merge into one and it was taking a period of readjustment for each of them.

James had subletted his apartment and moved in with Juliet. That was the first obvious step in their new lives. Neither could stand to be away from the other for very long. Despite moving out of the apartment he'd kept his job as handyman in addition to beginning his job as mall security. It kept him busy but he loved feeling useful. There was always time at the end of the day for Juliet and Clem.

Juliet hadn't felt ready emotionally or physically to fully go back to her practice and for the first week instead chose only to see patients in her clinic in the morning. The afternoons were spent with Rachael, the kids and planning her wedding.

Today she'd just seen her last patient and was settling back in her office to finish up her charts. She was interrupted from her work by a knock on the door, and her secretary poking her head in.

"Do you think you can see one more patient?" her secretary asks.

"I thought we were done?" she asks her.

"Last minute add on" her secretary says shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess its fine", Juliet says closing the chart. "Just put her in the exam room, I'll be just a few minutes"

Juliet tosses the chart onto the growing pile on her desk and gets up and puts her lab coat back on and heads to her exam room. She is surprised that her nurse hadn't put the newest chart outside the door, and oddly both her secretary and her nurse seemed to have both disappeared.

"Oh well" she says shrugging her shoulders and knocking on the door to announce her arrival. She opens the door and sees James sitting on the table.

She can't help but laugh, "What are you doing here? You don't exactly fit into my usual patient population"

"Tell me about it" he laughs sliding down off the table and approaching her. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her, pulling back he laughs, "it took all my conman expertise to get your secretary to play along with me"

She drapes her arms around him, "so what do I owe this visit? I was just getting ready to pack it in and go home."

He holds up the hand that had been sutured the night they gotten their memories back. "I was hoping you'd take these things out" he tells her. "They are itching like a fiend"

Juliet takes his hand, looking at the angry looking red line along the sutures. He'd kept his hand bandaged since that night, rarely speaking about it, let alone letting Juliet see the injury. "James they are infected" she says, looking away from his hand and up at his face. "Why did you wait so long?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I was gonna get you to take them out tonight. It wasn't bothering me till after I went to work this morning."

She shakes her head. "Just as stubborn as always I see" She counts back in her head to that night, it had been almost ten days since then. She gestures towards the table, "Climb back up there". Still shaking her head she moves to the other side of the room collecting what she needed and then returns to him.

She cleans the wound and goes to work taking the sutures out.

"Ouch" he says tugging his hand away from her.

She immediately feels bad for causing him anymore pain, but couldn't help but be slightly annoyed that he'd stubbornly let the wound get infected instead rather than letting her see it before this. "I'm sorry", she says softly, "but I can't believe you, if you hadn't waited so long maybe it wouldn't have gotten infected like this" she tells him.

He looks away from her, "I. . " he can't explain it to her. That night at the hospital, despite knowing it was the night they both finally remembered, he wanted to forget it. It was bad enough remembering losing her. But thoughts of that night only make him realize just how close he was to losing her a second time.

She shakes her head at him "I'm sorry", she says again seeing the look on his face, "Are you sure you want me to do this, I could call someone else to come up and do this if you want? I don't want to hurt you"

He places his hand back in front of her, "I don't want anyone else" he tells her, But please just be quick about it, okay?"

She nods her head and goes back to work. It's not the first time she'd taken sutures out of him. Once back on the island he'd sliced his leg while out on a mission with Miles. He'd come home to find her instead of visiting the infirmary, saying he didn't trust the Dharma doctor, only her. The Dharmaville memories cause a smile to spread across her face.

_**Flashback**_

_It was August 1976, her and James had been living together for almost a year now and she had loved every minute of it. Sure they had their ups and downs like every couple did, but for the first time she felt like she belonged somewhere, belonged with someone._

_It was after 5 and she said goodnight to the guys in the motor pool and headed home. She wondered if James was home yet, him and Miles had headed out to the north point today after there was a report of hostiles in the Dharma territory. As she approaches the front steps of their home she feels something isn't quite right. Getting to the steps she notices something was covering the steps. While it was drying she recognizes the smell immediately. She throws open the front door, "James?" she calls out rushing through the small house to find him._

_She finds him in the bathroom, his leg stretched into the bathtub, a blood soaked towel wrapped around it. Sweat dripping down his face._

"_Hey" she says rushing over to him and brushing her fingers through his hair. "What happened?"_

"_Hurt myself" he says stating the obvious._

"_I can see that James" she says getting up to get a wash cloth. She wets the wash cloth and runs it over his forehead wiping away the sweat. Whatever he'd done she could tell he was hurting._

"_Miles and I were headed home from the North point. I got caught on hostile trap, sliced my leg pretty good"_

_She could tell that was an understatement. Between the blood on the steps and what had soaked through the towel it looked like it was more than a simple cut. "Why didn't you go to the infirmary?" _

"_Don't trust that damn DI doctor. Don't think he has a clue what he's doing. I wanted you to look at it first"_

"_Miles just left you here bleeding?" she asks._

"_I told him to go home" he says through gritted teeth. "He was driving me crazy trying to get me to go to the infirmary"_

"_You should have listened to him James. What if I had been late, how would you have gotten over there"_

"_You ain't getting my point Blondie I'm not going over there. I want you to take care of this"_

_She pulls back, "James, we had an agreement. I'm not a doctor anymore. Besides I'm a fertility doctor"  
_

"_Well I ain't going to the infirmary" he says stubbornly. "So unless you want me to bleed to death sitting here in the tub, then I suggest you help me out"_

_She shakes her head, "What am I going to do with you?"_

"_Fix me up and put me to bed?" he asks with the biggest grin he could muster under the circumstances._

"_Oh James" she says leaning forward and kissing his forehead. She steps back and looks towards his leg. "I need to see under there and then I'll decide whether I can fix this or whether you need to go to the infirmary"_

_He nods, conceding to her plan. He grimaces as she peels back the bloody towel from his leg. On second glance it was worse than he'd first thought. _

_She peels back the towel as carefully as she can. Seeing the beads of sweat forming on his forehead again she knows it hurts more than he's letting on. Under the towel was a three inch gash which was probably another half to an inch deep. "You did a good job" she tells him, looking away from his wound and towards his face._

"_You don't have to tell me that. What's the damage?" he asks._

"_It's going to take quite a few stitches but I think you'll live" She pulls a clean towel from the rack and rewraps it around his leg. "I'm going to have to run to the infirmary and get supplies. Will you be okay here?" she asks._

"_Mmhmm"_

_She takes the washcloth back from him, wets it with cool water again and puts it back against his forehead. "I'll be right back." _

_She leaves him sitting on the edge of the tub and goes over to the infirmary. The doctor had gone home for the night. Using her best 'other skills' she's able to convince the nurse on duty that she just needs a few supplies because James had injured himself at work but it didn't require the doctor she was able to manage it. The nurse let her collect what she needed and was oblivious when Juliet had stuck a suture kit into her box of supplies. She rushed back to their house and found James in the exact spot she'd left him. "Let's get you to the bed, I think this will be easier to do in there", not to mention the fact that he looked like he might pass out from the pain and she wasn't going to be able to carry him to bed._

_**End Flashback** _

"What, are you gettin' pleasure out of my misery Blondie?" he says seeing her lost in thought with a smile on her face.

Snapping out of her memories, she looks up and meets his eyes, "Just remembering that time on the island when I had to suture up your leg. You were much tougher then" she teases. "I think the real world has caused you to soften a bit"

"_Hhrmph_" he mumbles under his breath.

This again causes her to laugh. Catching the look on his face she stifles it and goes back to work. "There" she finally says. She picks up his hand and bringing it to her lips kissing him. "All done"

"Will I live?" he asks jokingly.

She plays along, "Possibly" she tells him. "If you listen to your finance and take care of yourself"

"Is that a doctor's order?" he asks.

"Absolutely", she says back to him. She goes over to the counter and pulls out her prescription pad. She writes out a script for antibiotics and hands it to him, "You'll still need these"

"Seriously?" he asks her as he takes the piece of paper and folds it up sticking it in his pocket.

She nods, and gets more serious for a moment "you still have an infection in your hand. I'm not taking any chances with you before our wedding. Not with the luck we have"

He laughs, "You got a point there Blondie. I'll fill it on the way home." He slides down off the table and pulls her into his arms, kissing her passionately. "Does that cover my bill?" he mumbles against her, not wanting to pull his lips from hers.

She pulls back from him just slightly, looking in his eyes. "Well it's a start" she says with a wink. "I think I'll wait till later to cash in on the rest of your debt."

He lets out a low growl, "Jeez Jules, you ain't making it easy to go back to work"

She laughs, "So what are your plans for the rest of the day? Are you going to the apartment or back to the mall?"

He eyes her, "Way to change the subject Blondie"

She shrugs her shoulders and smiles, "Sorry just curious about your plans for the rest of the day. I'd like to tell you to take the rest of the day off but I know that isn't possible."

"I'm at the Mall till three and then I need to check in at the apartment building. If all goes well I'm home by four, if not I'm not sure when I'll be home."

"Well then, I hope there is no major catastrophe awaiting you at the apartment building"

He smiles, "Thanks for fixing me up again Blondie I'll see you at home later". He leans in and kisses her one last time and then leaves to head back to work.

She watches as he heads out of her office. When he's gone she gathers her things and goes to pick up the children.

Okay, so I know I said this was going to be the last chapter but I'm sure now you figured out it isn't! I'm procrastinating ending this story. After the finale I was in the mood for a fluff chapter and this is it. I wish I could say that I loved the finale, but I can't. . the majority of it was good. . I freaking loved the Suliet reunion but to be honest, I totally hated the ending. Anyways. . that has nothing to do with the story. . just had to put that out there LOL. Hope you enjoy the fluff chapter. The next chapter might be the end. Just depends on what kinda mood I'm in ;)...


	27. When good days turn bad

**Chapter 27 – When good days turn bad**

"Higher mommy, higher", Julian squeals as Rachael pushes him on the swing.

"I think that is high enough", Rachael tells her son. "It's a long way down if you fall"

Juliet laughs at her nephew as she pushes Clem on her swing. "I think you are going to have a little daredevil on your hands there Rachael"

"Tell me about it, the older he gets the more adventurous he gets"

Juliet laughs again, "I'm not sure about Clem yet. She may have only been with James for a few months so far, but she is most definately her father's daughter"

"You might be in trouble there little sis", Rachael laughs. "I may not have known James as long as you have but I've heard your stories"

While Juliet and James could never have explained everything about the island, they had filled Rachael in on some parts of it. There were some things about that part of her life that Juliet could never have spoken with her sister about. Despite the fact that the island hadn't occurred in this_ life_, for James, Juliet and the rest of their friends it had.

Juliet is drawn from her thoughts by Clem's voice. "Aw done, aw done", she hears the little girl telling her from the swing. Juliet stops the swing and by the time she has gotten Clem out of the swing the little girl had dissolved into tears. "Hey, hey", Juliet says running her fingers through Clem's curls. "It's all done you are out of the swing"

Clem buries her head in Juliet's neck crying. Juliet looks over at Rachael and shrugs her shoulders. Rachael in returns shrugs her own shoulders at Juliet, "What's up with her?"

"Not a clue?" Juliet says still running her hand over the little girl's hair. It wasn't unusual for Clem to just dissolve into tears for no reason but her episodes had gotten a lot less frequent in the past few weeks and almost never occurred when she was in the presence of Juliet, Rachael or James. Juliet had gotten a report from the daycare that it had happened a few times in the past week but again there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for why or when they happened.

"Clem see'd the scawry man again", Julian tells them as his swing comes to a stop.

Juliet looks at Rachael with a perplexed look and then down at her nephew. "What do you mean honey?" she asks, crouching down to his level. "Do you know what upset Clem?"

He nods his head, "Same as playing outside at daycare, the scawry man was here"

Both Rachael and Juliet glance around the playground. There were quite a few other people in the park but neither could pin point just who Julian was talking about.

"Where is the scary man?" Rachael asks her son.

Julian looks around the play ground, and shrugs his shoulders. "He's gone" Julian says simply.

Juliet shakes her head, this made no sense. But again, this was her life she was thinking about and so little made sense anymore. "Julian, do you know the scary man?" she pushes back the panic that was quickly settling in her. She wonders if Edmund really was still out there, still taunting her. Would he possibly stoop as low as to frighten children? She couldn't be sure at this point that he wouldn't.

Julian shakes his head, "Nope"

It doesn't encourage Juliet any that Julian says he doesn't know the man, he had never met Edmund. "Buddy" she says seriously, "has the man ever talked to you or Clem?"

Again he shakes his head, "No he just watches. When Clemmy cries he goes away"

Clem's cries had quieted, "Go, ma ma" she says pointing at the stroller.

Since the day James had proposed to Juliet, Clem had been calling her ma ma. It was taking her some getting use too and it still caught her off guard at times but she loved this child like her own and would go to the ends of the earth to protect her. "You want to go home?" Juliet asks her and she is met with a nod of the little girls head.

"That okay with you buddy?" Rachael asks her son.

"Yup" he says jumping down off the swing and taking Rachael's hand.

Clem clings to Juliet when she tries to set the little girl into the stroller. "Okay, okay", Juliet says holding on tighter to the little girl, "You win honey".

The park was a block away from the house. As they approached the house Juliet was thankful to see James car in the driveway.

"There you guys are", James says greeting them at the door. "I was beginning to wonder where you . . " Seeing the look on Juliet's face he stops mid sentence, "What's wrong?" he asks.

"Here", Rachael says holding out her arms to take Clem, "I'll take them and get them a snack"

Begrudgingly Clem goes with Rachael, "Its okay sweetheart, Daddy and Juliet will be right there"

When they were alone Juliet turns to James, "What was that about?" he asks.

"Something strange happened at the park. The kids were playing on the swings and suddenly Clem was asking to stop. When I got her out of the swings she starting sobbing, like she has done with Kate and at the daycare"

"She's done that before Jules, she has done that lots of times since the accident. The doctors have all said it is most likely just a post traumatic stress thing after everything that happened to her"

"I know, I know", Juliet tells him, "But she has never done it when she's been with me and this time Julian said that there was a bad man there and that is what scared Clem"

"What do you mean the bad man?" James asks somewhat confused.

Juliet shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. When I asked Julian to point him out he said he was gone. But the strange thing is he says he's seen him outside on the playground at the daycare as well. And the times that he's seen him, when Clem cries the guy disappears"

It takes a moment for what Juliet was saying to fully sink in, "Sonofabitch. He pulls Juliet into his arms, and rests his forehead against hers. "And here I was thinking that life was finally normalizing."

She lets out a sarcastic laugh, "Normal, I don't think anyone would ever define our lives as normal James"

A few moments of silence pass between them as they try to sort out this situation, "Do you think it's Edmund?" James finally asks breaking the silence. "The last time I talked to Miles the guy was still flying under the Miami PD radar."

"Honestly?" she replies, "I just don't know. Once upon a time I would have said no he'd never resort to scaring kids but now" she shakes her head at a loss. "I just don't know"

He pulls back from her slightly so they could look into each other's eyes. "Whoever this sonofabitch is he picked the wrong kid to mess with." He wraps his arm around her shoulder, "Speaking of the kid let's go check on her"

Together they walk into the kitchen. Rachael had the kids set up at the table having a snack.

"She okay?", James asks nodding towards Clem.

Rachael nods her head, "I think so, but she hasn't said anything since we came into the kitchen. Generally she's a little chatterbox at snack time."

James approaches Clem and lifts her from her high chair, and sits down at the table with her. "Did you have fun with Mommy and Auntie Rachael this afternoon Baby Girl?" he asks the little girl. "I hear that you went to the park."

The little girl listens but doesn't respond. "We played on the swings", Julian chimes in for her.

"That sounds like fun" he replies to the child.

"It was fun till Clem wanted to come home", Julian says glancing at Clem.

Clem turns her head and buries it in James' shoulder. "It's alright if you wanted to come home" he says shifting the child so he could look at her. He sees her eyes blur with tears. Clearly whatever happened at the park had had an effect on her. He shrugs his shoulders at Juliet, unsure how to go ahead with this. The child was just two years old. She wasn't able to explain what she was thinking or feeling but it was clear to both James and Juliet that whatever she'd seen had frightened her.

They are interrupted by the sound of Juliet's pager.

"I didn't think you were on call?" James says looking away from Clem and towards Juliet.

"I'm not" she says walking over to her purse to pull out the pager. Glancing down at the number she sees that it's a 911 page from the hospital. "Hmm, whatever it is they are paging me 911". Juliet heads to the other room to answer her pager. She returns a few moments later, "I have to go back to the hospital for a bit" she tells them.

"What's up?" James asks.

"There is an emergency with one of my regular patients. It's complicated and the OB covering for me isn't comfortable handling the situation"

Still holding Clem he gets up from the chair and approaches Juliet, "You sure _you_ are up for handling it?" he asks.

She nods her head. She knew that his question was not a reference to her medical skills but more about her own personal well being. "I'm sure. Are you going to be okay with her?" she gestures towards Clem.

"Yeah" he says. "I'll see if I can't get something more out of her"

Juliet leans in and kisses him and then Clem. "I haven't forgotten that you still owe me payment for this morning" she says with a wink.

"Nor have I" he laughs. "Hurry back okay"

"I'll see what I can do". Juliet grabs her purse and keys and heads back to the hospital.

James rolls over and looks at the clock. It was 3:30 in the morning and Juliet still wasn't home. He'd spoken with her around midnight and she hadn't been sure if she was going to make it home before morning. Unable to go back to sleep he gets up and goes down the hall to check on Clem. The little girl had been clingy all evening and it had been difficult to get her down for the night. He was happy to see her sleeping peacefully. He leans against the door jam in her doorway watching her sleep. He realizes that until two months ago he knows nothing of what the child's life had been before the accident. Maybe it was time to go to Albuquerque and find out about Cassidy's life there and what drove her to pick up and move to Miami out of the blue.

It was 4am when Juliet finally pulls into the driveway. The patient she'd spent the better part of the afternoon and night with had had multiple miscarriages and finally they'd been able to get her to twenty weeks. She'd hoped that since this was the first time she'd gotten the woman this far that the rest of the pregnancy would go well. This afternoon at 23 weeks she'd shown up at the hospital in labour. The patient had been distraught at finding out Juliet wasn't on call and this had led to Juliet being summoned to the hospital. It had taken hours but finally she'd been able to stop the progression of the labour.

She quietly enters the house figuring everyone was sleeping. She stops by Clem's room to check on her before going to bed and find James standing in the doorway of the room watching the child sleep. "Hey" she says sliding her hand into his. "She okay?"

"You're back" he smiles at her and leans in to kiss her. "How did things go?"

"So far so good. I was able to get the labour stopped for now."

"Score one for Doctor Blondie" he says with a smile.

She smiles back at him, "So how's our little one?" her tone becomes more serious.

He wraps an arm around her, "I wish I knew" he tells her. "I wish that she could tell me what was scaring her."

"We'll figure it out"

"I'm going to call Miles in the morning. I want to see what he can dig up on Cassidy."

"On Cassidy?" she asks confused.

"I missed almost two years of Clem's life Jules. I have no clue about what went on during that time or who was involved in Clem's life other than Cassidy."

"So you think there might be something to this, other than Edmund?" she asks.

He shrugs, "Not a freaking clue. But something is scaring my kid and I plan to figure out what it is. If Miles can't come up with anything then I'm thinking it's time for that trip to Albuquerque, surely one of Cassidy's friends will be able to give me some kind of information." He notices Juliet yawn, "Let's go to bed. We can discuss this in the morning. You look exhausted." He gets no argument from Juliet and the pair head down the all to the bedroom.

After a quick shower Juliet crawls into bed next to him. It doesn't take her eyes long to close once her head hits the pillow. She feels James lips touch hers, "Thought you were going to cash in on my debt"

"I still haven't decided what it's going to cost you" she says her lips curling into a smile, her eyes remaining closed.

He chuckes, "Goodnight Blondie". Rolling over he feels her move closer to him her body pressed up against his back, she shifts her arm across his body and tucks her hand into his. "Goodnight" she mumbles.

**Thanks for the reviews! Glad that people are still reading. **


	28. The Long Con

**Chapter 28 – The Long Con**

Juliet pours coffee into her waiting mug and yawns. It felt as though she'd just gone to sleep when the alarm had gone off and in all fairness she _had_ just climbed into bed sometime significantly after 4am and it was now almost 8. James was already up and gone to work. "Are you sure you are okay with the kids staying home this morning Rach?"

"Jules it's fine. It seems silly that we pay for day care when I'm fully capable of looking after them"

"I just don't want you to push yourself, you know that"

"Yup, I do know that but I'm fine Juliet. My energy levels are better and my last follow up scan was perfect. I wouldn't have said that it was okay if I didn't feel as though it was."

Juliet takes a sip of the coffee and sets her mug down, "I promise that I'll be home by one. I can't cancel my clinic it's too late of notice for my patients. Plus I have a couple inpatients that I need to round on but I will be home as soon as I can."

"Juliet", Rachael says exasperated. "Go to work, we'll be fine"

Juliet glances over at Clem. After what had happened the previous day she didn't want the little girl going to day care or being with anyone other than family, not until they knew for sure what was going on.

"She'll be fine Jules" Rachael says as she watches Juliet.

Juliet nods her head in response. She gulps back the remainder of her cup of coffee, "Alright, I need to run". She kisses Julian on the cheek, "Be a big boy and help mommy with Clem today okay?"

The little boy nods his head, "I help" he tells her proudly.

She smiles back at the boy, "That's my big boy". She leans over and kisses Clem, "See you later sweetheart" she says to the little girl.

"Me go", Clem says holding out her arms to Juliet.

Juliet picks up the little girl from the highchair, "No honey" she tells her. "You are going to stay with Auntie Rachael today". She doesn't miss the tears that were forming in the child's eyes. This parenthood thing was most definitely harder than she'd ever imagined it to be.

Rachael holds out her arms for Clem, "I'll take her Jules, just go she'll be fine". Seeing Juliet's resistance she continues. "Honest Jules, she'll stop crying in like two minutes. Remember what Julian was like when I first went into the hospital"

She thinks back to those first few horrible weeks when Rachael was in the hospital and Julian would sob from her room to the car and then be fine. "I know you're right", she tells her sister, "But it's a lot easier said than done".

"I know it is Jules" she replies sympathetically.

Juliet gives Clem one last hug and hands her to Rachael. "I'll see you after lunch honey".

Four hours later Juliet is working on her third cup of coffee of the morning. She'd told her secretary to just keep the coffee coming if she was going to make it through her clinic that morning. Her patient from during the night thankfully continued to be stable.

She's just about through her charts when there is a knock at the door. "Come in", she says looking up at the door, expecting her secretary to walk in. "Hey", she smiles seeing it was James. "What are you doing here?"

He holds up a paper bag and cup of coffee. "Brought you lunch".

She gets up from behind her desk and walks over to him. "Thanks" she leans in and kisses him. "What did you bring?" she asks, taking the bag and peeking into it.

"Chicken wraps from your favourite place down the street"

"Sounds good!" she says still smiling. "How did you know that I hadn't stopped for lunch already?"

"Because I know you" he replies, smiling back at her. "You aren't so different in this life than you were in Dharma you know. You never stopped for lunch when you worked in the motor pool unless I brought you something."

"What you brought was always so much better than what they were serving in the cafeteria though. You never seemed to catch on that I wanted you to bring me lunch", she adds with a wink.

He laughs, "Oh so now I get it, all those times you were just waiting for me to bring you something better"

"Or something like that", she teases.

He switches subjects as they sit down to eat, "Have you talked to Rachael this morning?"

"I called before my last patient. Things were going okay there"

"Yeah" he nods, "I called too. Just missed you this morning"

"Rachael mentioned that. Did you get a chance to call Miles yet?" she asks.

"Yup, I spoke to him just before I came. He was a little unsure of the fact that I seem to be putting so much confidence into my two year old but he was willing to look into Cassidy for me. And because they still can't find Edmund he's gonna keep the car in front of the house to monitor things. He's hopeful that if it is Edmund and he comes near the kids at home then they can nab him. I was thinking that if you weren't on call this weekend we might take a quick trip to Albuquerque."

She could sense the urgency in his voice to figure this out. "I think it sounds like a good idea. I'm free to go. I'll book our flights this afternoon."

"Rachael will be okay if you go away for a few days?"

She nods her head, "She keeps telling me she is fine and not to worry anymore. Of course I can't help but worry, but yes, I think she'll be fine"

He chuckles, "Okay then, go ahead and book it."

The rest of their meal is eaten in silence and it seems like no time at all has passed when Juliet's secretary was knocking on the door to let her know her last few patients were ready for her.

"Guess that's my cue", James says standing up. Juliet gets up as well and walks over to him, she leans in and kisses him goodbye. "You'll be home early?" it was a question as much as a statement.

"I think it'll be after three". He leans in and kisses her back and with one last goodbye he leaves her to the rest of her day.

The last hour of Juliet's day passes quickly. After last nights all nighter she wasn't disappointed for an early finish to her work day. Before heading home she books the tickets and a hotel for their weekend in Albuquerque.

As Miles had promised the squad car was still sitting out on the street in front of the house. It was a comfort to know that it was there. She finds Rachael and Julian in the kitchen. "Hey you two" she says dropping her purse on the counter. "How was the morning?"

"Auntie Juwiet" the little boy runs over to her at the sound of her voice.

She scoops him up in her arms. "Did you and Clemmy have fun with mommy today?"

"Yup" he says. "Clemmy is sleeping, she was tired"

"Ah, I see", she says smiling at the little boy. "I was wondering where she was"

"All was good this morning", Rachael says filling her in more on the morning. "Clem just went down for a nap and Mr. Julian here was thinking that he didn't want a nap today." Rachael herself looked exhausted from her morning with the kids.

"Not tired, huh buddy?" she asks.

He shakes his head, "No way"

"Well, Auntie Juliet is tired because she stayed awake all night at work."

"Are you gonna have a nap?" he asks giving her a silly look, like she was crazy for even suggesting it.

"I think so" she says setting the little boy back down and yawning. "When James comes home maybe we'll go to the park." She sees the smile on his face grow, "But only if you are a good boy for mommy and go have a rest." Juliet winks at Rachael.

The little boy looks from his mom to his aunt, "I think you tricked me Auntie Juwiet."

She shrugs her shoulders, "That's the deal buddy, nap then the park."

"Okay" he says begrudgingly, "I will go to bed". Rachael takes the little boy by the hand. "Thanks sis" she says leading him from the kitchen. "Oh", Rachael calls over her shoulder. "Clem's in your room"

Juliet checks the locks on the doors and heads to her bedroom. Clem was sound asleep in the centre of the bed. Juliet heads into her bathroom and changes out of her work clothes into something more comfortable, and climbs into the bed beside Clem.

"You getting back up today baby?" she wakes to the feel of James lips on her forehead.

"What time is it?" she asks groggily rubbing her eyes.

"It's almost 5:30"

She becomes more alert and stretches, "Clem?" she says glancing around the room, remembering the little girl had been in the bed with her.

"She's with Rachael. She got up when I got home at 3"

"Oh" she says sitting up. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I tried" he laughs, "But you told me to leave you for a bit longer"

"Really?" she asks pushing her hand through her hair, "I really crashed, I don't remember that."

He nods, "Its okay, you feel like dinner?" he reaches out and tucks her hair behind her ears and kisses her again.

"Yeah, but I am going to jump in the shower first." She gets up and walks towards the bathroom.

He climbs off the bed following her, "Shower sounds like a fabulous idea. I think I'll join you" he says with a smirk.

She laughs and continues on into the bathroom, "Sounds like fun"

"Daddy" they both turn at the sound of the little voice heading in their direction.

James lets out a low growl as he watches Juliet strip off her clothes.

"Daddy" the little voice becomes more urgent as it approaches the bedroom door.

"She's calling you big guy", Juliet teases.

He shakes his head at Juliet as she steps into the shower, "I'll be back for you" he says heading towards the door. "Right here baby girl" he says poking his head out of the bedroom.

Juliet finds them in the kitchen. "Where's Rachael and Julian?" she asks.

"They went out to dinner with her friend Lauren" He steps closer to her, still somewhat hyped up from their earlier encounter. "Said they might go see a movie afterwards. Which means", he drawls out "we have the house to ourselves".

She drapes her arms around his neck, bringing her mouth to his ear, "You're forgetting a little something, or rather someone", she whispers.

He dips his head and trails his lips along her collar bone, "She's already yawning" he mumbles.

She glances over his shoulder at the little girl playing on the floor with her toys. "She looks pretty wide awake to me"

"Trust me I'll have her tucked into bed by 7:30"

She giggles and pats him on the chest, "You're on!"

Two hours later, good to his word Clementine was tucked into her crib sound asleep. Unfortunately for James, Juliet was also sound asleep on the couch.

He smiles and shakes his head, "Oh Blondie" he thinks to himself. He contemplates waking her but she looked too peaceful. He covers her with a blanket, takes a seat at the end of the couch, and picks up the book he'd been reading. He's just turning the first page when his phone rings. Looking at the call display he sees that it's Miles, "Enos, what's up?" he asks.

"Jim, I've got some info on Cassidy for you"

"That was quick" he replies.

"Don`t go thanking me yet, it isn`t a alot. Cassidy was working for a real estate company in Albuquerque. According to her boss she up and quit out of the blue. She gave no reason for quitting and no forwarding address."

"That just doesn't sound like Cassidy"

"It gets stranger", Miles continues, "She had just accepted a promotion and was just closing on her own new house. Her boss was completely baffled by her behaviour, said it was like she flipped personalities in one twenty four hour period."

James contemplates this new information, "Is that all he could give you?"

"Gave me the name Ella Stevens, another agent in his company. According to him, Ella and Cassidy were good friends. I was going to look her up but I figured if you were going there this weekend that you might get more out of her face to face."

"Thanks Miles, I appreciate this"

"It's not a lot to go on, but it's a start. For what it's worth, I think you are right. Something about Cassidy's move to Miami isn't on the up and up. I'm going to pull the accident records tomorrow I want to look at them a little more closely."

"Still, it gives me somewhere to start when we go this weekend."

"What about Cassidy's belongings?" Miles asks.

"I have them in storage, after I got custody of Clem I went through Clem's things only and took some of the things she'd use. I didn't go through the rest of it. I left it for Clem when she's older. Figured it would be a way for her to know her mom."

"I think we need to go through them" Miles tells him matter of fact. "If we are curious as to what Cassidy was up too then maybe there are clues in there".

James glances at a sleeping Juliet on the couch, "No time like the present. Juliet and Clem are down for the night. Want to meet me at the storage locker?"

"Sure, give me the address. I'll meet you there".

James gives Miles the address to the storage locker where Cassidy's things were being stored. He writes Juliet a note and leaves it on the coffee table beside her and heads out to meet Miles.


	29. Things that go bump in the night

**Chapter 29 – Things that go bump in the night**

**** Juliet****

Juliet is awakened suddenly by the sound of breaking glass and then the alarm system. Sitting up she tries to adjust to the dim light in the room and remembers that she'd lain down on the couch while James had put Clem to bed. Glancing around the room she realizes she's alone. The clock on the mantle shows that it's just after 8:30.

She shakes off the grogginess of having been suddenly woken and in the background of the screeching alarm she realizes Clem is crying. As she's getting up she realizes there is a note on the table, grabbing it she runs down the hall towards the screaming little girl. By the time she reaches Clem's room she's scanned the note and realizes that she was home alone with the little girl. She had no clue what had set the alarm off and as she became more alert she was sure she had heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the kitchen. She hoped that the officers out on the street would hear it and come investigate. She finds Clem standing up in the crib, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's alright sweetheart", Juliet says scooping her out of the crib into her arms. She runs her hands through the little girl's hair and feels her trembling. "It's alright honey" she repeats again, trying to decide whether she was trying to ensure herself of that fact or Clementine.

"No momma, no bad" the little girl was repeating over and over again through her tears.

Juliet hugs her closer, unsure what the little girl was trying to say, or tell her. The alarm continues to screech and she suddenly wishes she'd thought to grab her cell phone off the coffee table. The phone starts to ring and she wonders whether or not to leave the safety of Clem's room to go and answer it. She was fairly sure it would be her alarm company and if she didn't answer the company was to notify 911. Had she been alone she wouldn't have thought twice about going to investigate.

"No bad, no bad, no momma" Clem continued to repeat over and over again.

"Shh", Juliet says running her hand down the little girls head. "I've got you, you aren't bad honey".

** James**

James arrives at the storage locker a few minutes ahead of Miles. He waits for his friend to arrive before he unlocked the door.

Miles arrives within five minutes and the two enter the storage locker together. James hadn't been here since the day he'd loaded up the locker but he instantly felt as though something was off. "Something ain't right Enos", he says after flipping on the light.

"In what way?" Miles asks looking around at the stacks of boxes. "Looks like a bunch of stacked up boxes"

James wanders around the small room. Someone had been in here. He'd separated Clem's things from Cassidy's and now the boxes were just randomly stacked. "Someone's moved the boxes around. I had everything that was labelled with Clem's name at the front for easier access. The rest of the boxes were back behind. He goes through a few of the boxes labelled with Clem's name, from what he could tell everything was in them and they hadn't been touched other than being moved. He curses himself for not having gone through the rest of the boxes. There was no way of knowing now if anything was gone.

Miles picks up on James' frustrations. "Don't touch anything else, I'm going to call a crew down to go through this stuff, look for prints".

"Sonofabitch", James curses under his breath.

As Miles is pulling out his phone to call into the station it rings, "Miles" he says flipping it open and putting it to his ear. "I'm with Jim now" he says into the phone, "Okay, we are on our way", he continues as he flips the phone shut. "We gotta go" he says looking at Jim. "The alarm is going off at your place."

"Sonofabitch" he repeats again, "Juliet and Clem are there alone". The pair head out of the storage locker and James quickly locks it behind him.

"I'll make sure the team comes right down here to look for prints", Miles tells him as he pulls open is car door. "I'll meet you at the house"

James jumps into his car and tears out of the parking lot towards home.

**Juliet**

"Where the hell are those officers", Juliet thinks to herself as it seems to be taking forever for someone to come to the door. After another few moments of the screeching alarm and Clem's screams she realizes she needs to do something. Pulling a blanket from the crib she tosses it over the little girl and hugs her closer to her body. She makes her way back down the hall, flipping on the lights as she went.

Back in the living room she glances out the front window, the police car which was suppose to be stationed in front of the house was nowhere in sight. She grabs her cell off the coffee table and dials 911. She explains to the 911 operator about the breaking glass, the alarm and that there were suppose to be officers watching the house.

She makes her way to the kitchen, flipping on lights as she went. She'd like to say it was quietly but with a screaming child in her arms she was anything but quiet. So much for sneaking up on whoever might have broken in. The kitchen was located at the back of the house, which backed out onto the water. It was Miami after all and everything looked out on the water. Flipping on the kitchen light she immediately sees the smashed window and broken glass all over the floor. "It's okay Clem, don't cry honey" she whispers into the little girl's ear, still wondering who she was trying to assure that things were under control. A quick scan of the kitchen shows that nothing else seems out of place. She makes her way over to the garage entrance where the alarm was located. She hits the sequence of numbers which resets the alarm. Having spoken with the 911 operator she was now felt assured someone was on their way. In the distance she hears the wail of the approaching sirens.

Shortly after there is a knock at the front door, as she makes her way into the living room she hears the sound of a man's voice. "Dr. Burke, it's the Miami PD".

**James**

He races home with way too many bad things floating through his mind. He's kicking himself for having left Juliet and Clem home alone. If something were to happen to either of them he wasn't sure how he would go on.

As he turns the corner into their neighbourhood he can see two squad cars in front of the house with their lights still flashing. He pulls into the driveways, and in moments is throwing open the front door, instantly relieved to see Juliet sitting on the couch with Clem sleeping in her lap. "Juliet" he says rushing over to her and dropping down on the couch beside her. Ignoring the officers for a moment he focuses solely on her, "Are you okay?"

Miles arrived just a moment after James and let himself in through the open front door and steps in to speak to the officers.

Juliet wraps her arm around James neck, "We are okay. Something or someone broke the window in the kitchen which set off the alarm.

"But they didn't find anyone?" he asks.

She shakes her head, "No, I'm sure once the alarm started it scared off whoever was there. By the time the officers got here whoever it was, was long gone."

He glances over at the officers talking to Miles, "What do you mean by the time they got here, were they not parked out front?"

She shakes her head again, "Nope, they were gone at the time the alarm went off"

He curses under his breath. Obviously whoever it was had been watching the house and took the opportunity of the officers absence to make a move.

Juliet shifts Clem in her lap which rouses the little girl causing her to cry again. "Oh Clemmy", she says hugging her close. The little girl turns and notices the officers and starts to cry harder, "no bad, no bad" she repeats over and over again, clinging tighter to Juliet.

James gives Juliet a perplexed look and pats Clem on the back. Juliet shakes her head, "I don't know what she means. She's been saying that since the alarms went off. It got worse when the officers came into the house. She finally cried herself to sleep."

James is about to ask Juliet if she wants him to take Clem when Rachael comes racing through the front door with a sleeping Julian in her arms. "Jules?" she asks, her eyes falling on her sister and then the various others who were standing around their living room. He gets up and goes over to Rachael, "Let me take Julian and put him in bed, Jules will fill you in". Rachael nods and hands the sleeping child to him and joins Juliet on the couch.

"Someone broke the window in the kitchen" Juliet explains, "which set he alarm off. From what we can tell no one got in though"

"Geez Jules, do you think Edmund would stoop to something like that?"

"Honestly I don't know" she replies, "It doesn't seem like something he'd do. At this point I'm not convinced this has anything to do with Edmund."

"Then what do you think it's about?" Rachael asks, confused.

Juliet gestures towards the half asleep child in her arms, "I'm beginning to think this has everything to do with her

"And whatever caused her mother to uproot her from her home and move her across the country?", Rachael asks.

Juliet nods, before she can say anything else James reappears in the living room. "Want me to put her down too?" he asks leaning in to take Clem from her. At being moved Clem panics again, "no go, no go" and clings tighter to Juliet. "Clem, honey, its just daddy" she says peeling the child's fingers from her clothes.

"Umm, on second thought I think I'll just leave her where she is", James says backing off, confused by his daughter's strange reaction to the night's events.

Miles steps away from the officers and approaches Juliet and James. "Jim, a couple of the guys boarded up the broken window and cleaned up the glass in the kitchen."

"Thanks Enos. Are they done in there?"

"Yup, they are about to head out. The car will be out front. You can bet I'll be looking into why it wasn't out front when all this went down. There was suppose to be someone here twenty four seven".

Within the hour the officers and Miles had left and Rachael had gone to bed. Juliet and James were sitting in bed discussing the evening's events. They'd been unable to get Clem back in her crib and she was currently sleeping between them on the bed. Despite knowing that he was being irrational, James was feeling guilty for having left them alone tonight.

"She broke my heart tonight" Juliet says brushing her fingers through Clem's curls. "We need to help her."

His hand meets hers, "We will Jules".

"Did you find anything in Cassidy's belongings that might help?"

He shakes his head, "We didn't really get a chance to go through it." He didn't want to tell her, not tonight of all nights but he also didn't want to keep anything from her, "Someone had been in the storage locker. Things were moved around."

She takes a moment to let what he'd just told her sink in. She had almost hoped that everything that had gone on could be traced back to Edmund. She couldn't do that anymore, he'd have gained nothing from going through Cassidy's things. He shouldn't even know about Cassidy. Sure he could have looked into James' past but he had more pressing things going on in his life right now. "I guess that settles it then."

He gives her a questioning look.

"This isn't about Edmund James, this is about Cassidy. Whatever has been scaring Clem, I'm certain now that it has to do with Cassidy".

"Yeah" he nods his head slowly. He couldn't deny it any more either. "I didn't want to believe that Cass would have gotten herself involved in anything that would bring harm to Clem." Shaking his head, "I guess I was being naive, Cass's past was no better than mine".


	30. Albuquerque

**It has been forever since I updated this story. I hadn't forgotten about it, just had little time to do anything with it. Hopefully there are still people interested in reading the ending. The ending has been planned for a bit, I just had to get down to writing it. Please if you would leave me a review and let me know if you are still interested in seeing how this story ends ;).**

**Chapter 30**

**Albuquerque**

It's just after dark and Clem was asleep in Juliet's arms. James and Juliet waited under the darkened cover of a tree at the edge of the park. They'd been in Albuquerque for two weeks.

A car pulled up and Kate and Tom stepped out of it. "Thanks for coming Freckles", James steps towards them shaking Tom's hand. "I'm not sure how we'll ever be able to thank you for this.

Kate shakes her head and glances at Tom. She then returns her attention to James and Juliet, "You don't need to thank us. We'll do whatever we can to help you guys and keep Clementine safe."

James didn't miss the look between Kate and Tom. He was sure that Kate was onboard for their plan but he wasn't so sure about Tom. The previous evening when they'd hashed out the details of the plan with Kate, she'd assured him that Tom would help. He pushes away his doubts, "You know this isn't going to be easy. Her picture is everywhere right now"

Kate nods, "Don't worry, it's not like I've never done this before"

"Kate" he says seriously, "Don't joke. That was a whole other life, you shouldn't have to run for us."

"I know" she replies, "But I want to do _this_".

"We should get going Kate", Tom says wrapping an arm around Kate's waist. "The longer we stay out here the greater the risk someone will notice us"

"He's right", James says turning to face Juliet. "Are you ready?"

She shakes her head, unsure how she was supposed to hand the child over to Kate. She had been dreading this moment since they had agreed on the plan.

James notices her hesitation, "It's going to be alright Juliet. This is just temporary"

She can only nod her head, afraid if she spoke she would lose her battle with the tears that were threatening her. She kisses Clementine gently on the cheek, whispers a goodbye in the little girls' ear and hands her over to James. He does the same and then places the sleeping child in Kate's arms. "_I'm trusting you_ to keep her safe Freckles" he says before he fully lets go of the little girl.

It was Kate's turn to nod. "We will." Tom replies for her.

Juliet turns away from them and puts Clem's bags into the trunk of the car while Tom straps the sleeping child into the car seat.

Five minutes later James holds Juliet in his arms as they watched the car drive off into darkness.

"It's time" he says sliding a hand into hers. "_Let's go_".

**Two weeks earlier...**

James quietly opens the door to their hotel room and sees Juliet sitting on the window sill looking out the window. He walks up behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder, causing Juliet to turn and look at him. "Hey", she smiles.

"She out?" he asks, gesturing towards the bedroom.

She nods, "Yup". She can't wait any longer, "What did you find out?"

The previous evening the three of them had flown to Albuquerque to find out about Clem's life with Cassidy.

"Not much", he replies. "It seems that Cassidy's friends either just don't know what happened or just aren't willing to talk about it." He pauses a moment and then continues before Juliet has a chance to respond. "Or possibly they just aren't willing to talk about it with _me!_"

She tilts her head to the side and gives him a look, "Why wouldn't they be willing to talk to you?"

_"Ha"_ he says sarcastically, "Seems Cassidy's friends know all about our past together, she really didn't hold back anything in regards to her feelings about me"

"But she gave you Clementine?"

"Well, she _didn't give me_ Clementine, I'm Clementine's father. She listed me on her birth certificate. I'm pretty sure if she had any inkling of what might happen to her she'd have made darn sure she had a different guardian listed for Clem"

"But she didn't" she climbs off the window sill and approaches him and wraps her arms around him. "And Clem is much better off with you than she would be with anyone else"

He pulls back and smiles at her, "I'm pretty sure that none of Cassidy's friends would agree with you"

She shakes her head, "You're impossible, you know that"

"I try my hardest" he quips back, which causes a giggle to escape her.

He smiles, he loved her laugh. "It's been too long since I've heard that" he dips his head and kisses her. "I've missed it"

She shrugs her shoulders and is about to say something when he silences her with another kiss. "Let's just forget about all this for tonight. There's nothing we can do. I was thinking about Dharma on my way back here tonight. Do you remember that Dharma picnic in the summer of '76?" he asks with a grin.

She giggles again "Whatever made you think about _that?"_ she asks before breaking out into a full laugh. They didn't often speak about their other 'life' it had become a taboo subject between them. Both were afraid that at some point in time they'd slip and say something in front of the wrong person.

"As I was pulling into the parking lot downstairs there was this guy and I swear his clothes were straight out of the 70's. I'm pretty sure once upon a time I had owned something just like it!"

She laughs again, "The clothes were definitely the best part" she says sarcastically.

"Back to the picnic", he says with a smile. "What do you remember about it?"

She blushes. "If I remember correctly we didn't actually attend much of the picnic. And", she draws out, "if I recall correctly we both came down with a nasty case of poison ivy later that night."

It was his turn to break out in a laugh, as he scratches his back, "_Oh_ I'd forgotten that part"

She laughs and shakes her head, "Well I guess I should be happy that the preceding events to the poison ivy were more memorable than the rash", she teases.

"Absolutely" he leans in and kisses her again.

**One week later. . . **

Juliet throws open the door to their hotel room and finds James sitting on the floor playing with Clem.

"From the grin on your face I would say you got something?" he says.

The past week had been mostly a waste of time. They'd given up on James approaching Cassidy's friends and Juliet had taken her turn at trying to get information.

She nods her head, "I had lunch with Ella Stevens, Cassidy's friend from work"

"How'd you swing that one? I got no where with her."

"Clem"

He shrugs his shoulders and holds up his hands.

"She wanted to know how Clem was doing, I suggested lunch"

"So" he says expectantly, "What did you find out?"

"Well", she says. James gets up from the floor, leaving Clem to play while the two sit down on the edge of the bed. "It seems that Cassidy met someone a few months before she up and left her job. Ella said that shortly after Cassidy started dating the guy she became more withdrawn, stopped going to work social events, and not talking to her other friends anymore. She stopped doing anything extra at work and was out of the office the second the clock hit five. At first Ella didn't think anything of it, it was the first time since she'd worked with Cassidy that Cassidy had been involved with anyone; she figured it was just that honeymoon stage of a relationship. The week before Cassidy up and left her job she'd shown up for work with a black eye and bruises on her arms. Cassidy had refused to tell Ella anything. When Ella suggested maybe she needed to get away from the new guy Cassidy was quick to defend him."

"Doesn't sound like the Cassidy I knew", James says, baffled by what he was hearing. "I just can't imagine that she'd let some guy hit her."

Juliet thinks of her own life with Edmund and shakes her head, "Sometimes it's not as easy as it may seem to escape that kind of relationship"

Seeing the look on her face he nods his had and places a hand over hers. After a quiet moment between them he continues, "Did she know his name, or ever meet him?"

Juliet looks up into his eyes, "Mmhmm, that is the strangest part. James", she says seriously, "She never met the guy or saw a picture of him, but the guy's name was Eddie"

"_Sonofabitch_" he says under his breath.


End file.
